National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is an American scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce that focuses on the conditions of the oceans, major waterways, and the atmosphere. Their Marine Debris Program helps to identify reduce and prevent debris in the marine environment, targeting beachgoers, fishers, boat and marine owners, and students and their educators. Their resources include useful information products. Their ARGO programsupports a global array of almost 4,000 robotic profiling floats that measure the temperature and salinity of the upper 2,000 meters (1.2 miles) of the ocean. This constant monitoring of the temperature, salinity, and currents of the upper ocean is publicly available within hours after collection and used in research across the globe.