National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
United States Department of Commerce

About Us


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About Us

Our Mission

We develop unique acoustics tools and technologies to support the mission of NOAA as well as other federal agencies, academic institutions and international partners. Our primary goals are [a] to acquire long-term data sets of the global ocean acoustics environment, and [b] to identify and assess acoustic impacts from human activities and natural processes on the marine environment.

Program Goals

  • Conduct marine acoustics research and technology development under NOAA's mission of Science, Service, and Stewardship
  • Provide acoustic tools and research capabilities for a variety of applications to meet NOAA’s research goals
  • Develop "Next Generation" technologies and instrumentation in support of NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) objectives

Acoustics Research Groups

  • Geophysics/Ocean Sound
  • Bioacoustics
  • Ocean Ambient Sound

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