1962年於苗栗成立地球物理研究所（含大氣物理領域）
1968年於中壢成立國內首創之大氣物理學系學士班（分大氣物理組及高空物理組教學）
1978年成立國內首創之大氣物理研究所碩士班
1983年成立國內首創之大氣物理研究所博士班
1990年成立太空科學研究所碩士班
1990年大氣物理學系更名為大氣科學學系（分大氣組及太空組教學）
1993年成立太空科學研究所博士班

2011年大氣系系所合一，大氣科學學系(大學部、大氣物理碩士班、大氣物理博士班)

2020年大氣科學學系原學籍分組為「大氣組」與「太空組」，自109學年起分組整併，太空組停招，改以「太空科學與工程學系」招生

Research and education of the atmospheric sciences have a long history at the National Central University. Originally the atmospheric science was just one of the research branches in the Institute of Geophysics， which was the first founded Institute when the University was reestablished in Taiwan in 1962. The rapid advances of the atmospheric and space sciences in the 60s’ called for establishing an independent academic program to reflect the trend and to meet the challenges. Thus the Department of Atmospheric Physics， the first of its kind in all universities in Taiwan， was founded in 1968. Ten years later， the first graduate Institute of Atmospheric Sciences in Taiwan – “the Institute of Atmospheric Physics”， was established. In 1990， the name of the department was changed to “Atmospheric Sciences”. At the same time， the space science program was spun off from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics to form the Institute of Space Science. Since 1998， the Department of Atmospheric Sciences and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics have become two core members of the College of Earth Sciences， which is also the first of its kind in Taiwan.