Atmospheric analysis

NIWA has been using advanced scientific instruments to measure atmospheric trace gases and isotopes for over 50 years.

  • Critter of the Week: Brisinga chathamica

    Brisingida are an order of deep-sea dwelling sea stars that look more like brittle stars with a small disk that is distinctly set off from their 13-15 arms.
  • What does NIWA actually do?

    What does NIWA do? The answer might surprise you.
    This video is an introduction to NIWA scientists and the wide range of work they do. Our staff work across freshwater,climate and ocean research platforms throughout New Zealand and the wider Pacific region.
  • NIWA's Hotspot Watch 1 April 2016

    Hotspot
    Across the North Island, soil moisture levels have generally remained the same or increased when compared to this time last week.
  • Carbonate analysis

    We use various types of carbonate - e.g. aragonite from coral, otoliths (fish ear bones), bivalves (sea shells), and speleothems (limestone cave calcite) - in paleoclimate research.
  • NIWA's Hotspot Watch

    Hotspot
    A weekly update describing soil moisture across the country to help assess whether severely to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. Regions experiencing these soil moisture deficits are deemed “hotspots”. Persistent hotspot regions have the potential to develop into drought.
  • Report on Waikato and Waipa rivers sets benchmark

    Media release
    A whole of catchment Report Card for the Waikato and Waipa rivers has been released by the Waikato River Authority giving the catchment an anticipated low rating for its wellbeing.
  • Critter of the Week: Flabellum (the dentures of the sea)

    This fan-shaped beauty is large and solitary, with a widespread distribution throughout New Zealand and mainly lives on soft substrate in a broad range of depths (0 – 3200 metres).
  • NIWA's Hotspot Watch

    Hotspot
    A weekly update describing soil moisture across the country to help assess whether severely to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. Regions experiencing these soil moisture deficits are deemed “hotspots”. Persistent hotspot regions have the potential to develop into drought.
  • Critter of the Week: Corallimorphus niwa

    Corallimorpharia are a group of cnidarians morphologically intermediate between sea anemones and stony corals. Like sea anemones (Actiniaria), they lack a calcareous skeleton but their internal anatomy and nematocysts are similar to stony corals (Scleractinia). In fact, phylogenetic studies have shown that Scleractinia and Corallimorpharia are closely related.
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    NIWA completes first bathymetric mapping of Lake Tekapo

    Media release
    NIWA researchers have spent part of the last month keeping a close eye on the bottom of Lake Tekapo to find out what it looks like and what is going on below the lake bed.
  • What is greenhouse gas and how is it measured?

  • Lake Tekapo - a tsunami hazard?

    NIWA scientists scan Lake Tekapo with the aim of finding out if submarine landslides can create a tsunami hazard for the Lake Tekapo township and hydropower infrastructure.