Atmospheric analysis

New Zealanders have just experienced one of the driest summers on record – great for beachgoers and cricket lovers, but far from ideal for farmers and orchardists relying on rain to maintain productivity.

Weekly update to help media assess likelihood of extremely dry weather preceding a drought. Regions experiencing severely to extremely drier than normal soils conditions are deemed “hotspots”.

The six-week New Zealand-Antarctic Ecosystem Voyage saw RV Tangaroa travel through the Southern Ocean to the Ross Sea to conduct a range of scientific fieldwork. The voyage was a collaboration between Antarctica New Zealand, NIWA and the Australian Antarctic Division.

This week we are featuring some new species of nematode worms that have recently been found at Hataitai Beach in Wellington, just two minutes away from NIWA’s Greta Point facilities.

New Zealand’s underwater mountains are home to unique animal communities which need careful environmental management, new research reveals.

The work of NIWA biologists has discovered 141 new marine creatures in the past three years, an important contribution to a worldwide register of the planet’s underwater life.

Watch the very latest from NIWA Forecaster Chris Brandolino on Tropical Cyclone Pam’s expected movements and impacts on New Zealand.

Hundreds of amazing images have come back from NIWA’s NZ-AU Antarctic Ecosystems Voyage 2015 on RV Tangaroa.

Niwa scientists have anchored an echosounder to the sea floor of Terra Nova Bay that could reveal the mystery of silverfish reproduction under the Antarctic ice.

NIWA scientists have anchored an echosounder to the sea floor of Terra Nova Bay that could reveal the mystery of silverfish reproduction under the Antarctic ice.