Part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the NCDC serves as a vast archive of meteorological data called the World Data Center for Meteorology, which it then provides to various agencies, organizations, publications, insurance companies, and law firms all over the planet. Records go back as far as the nineteenth century, and include data ranging from modern radar and weather balloon reports to observations made by ships over a century ago. The meteorology data center is located in Asheville, North Carolina. The NCDC also runs the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology in Boulder, Colorado.