Environmental Science Services Administration

Environmental Science Services Administration
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Flag.
Agency overview
Formedon July 13, 1965; 59 years ago (1965-07-13)
Preceding agencies
Dissolvedon October 3, 1970; 54 years ago (1970-10-03)
Superseding agency
JurisdictionUnited States federal government
HeadquartersRockville, Maryland
Agency executive
Parent agencyU.S. Department of Commerce
Child agencies
Robert M. White, ca. 1971. He was the Administrator of ESSA throughout its existence.
Vice Admiral H. Arnold Karo was Deputy Administrator of ESSA from 1965 to 1967.

The Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) was a United States Federal executive agency created in 1965 as part of a reorganization of the United States Department of Commerce.[1] Its mission was to unify and oversee the meteorological, climatological, hydrographic, and geodetic operations of the United States. It operated until 1970, when it was replaced by the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The first U.S. Government organization with the word "environment" in its title,[2] ESSA was the first such organization chartered to study the global natural environment as whole, bringing together the study of the oceans with that of both the lower atmosphere and the ionosphere. This allowed the U.S. Government for the first time to take a comprehensive approach to studying the oceans and the atmosphere, also bringing together various technologies – ships, aircraft, satellites, radar, and communications systems – that could operate together in gathering data for scientific study.[3]

  1. ^ Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1965.
  2. ^ "meteohistory.org "The Making of NOAA, 1963–2005: AN Evening With Robert M. White", transcription of presentation by Robert M. White at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C., December 1, 2005, p. 58" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  3. ^ "meteohistory.org "The Making of NOAA, 1963–2005: AN Evening With Robert M. White", transcription of presentation by Robert M. White at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C., December 1, 2005, p. 59" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2017.