Atmospheric analysis

A weekly update describing soil moisture patterns across the country to show where dry to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. Regions experiencing significant soil moisture deficits are deemed “hotspots”. Persistent hotspot regions have the potential to develop into drought.

Our team onboard RV Tangaroa are equipped with all the tech and tools they need to explore the undersea changes caused by the devastating volcanic eruption in Tonga earlier this year.

Here are short profiles of some of the amazing people on board.

NIWA and University of Auckland masters student Georgia Third is getting up close and personal with snapper guts and teeth to understand the differences between biologically distinct snapper populations in New Zealand.

Tangaroa has sampled more clean seawater from a site not affected by the January 15th eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai (HT-HH).

Tangaroa is off the west coast of Tongatapu collecting seawater to analyse for trace metal.

RV Tangaroa has just completed its last full day of sampling around the waters of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai (HT-HH).

Tangaroa is now 100 km south-west of Hunga Tonga - Hunga Ha’apai volcano (HT-HH), surveying in 2,440 m of water in the Lau Trough.

A weekly update describing soil moisture patterns across the country to show where dry to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. Regions experiencing significant soil moisture deficits are deemed “hotspots”. Persistent hotspot regions have the potential to develop into drought.

Tangaroa continues to map the area while deploying instruments to collect samples and capture images of the seafloor.

We started the day by examining the seafloor towards the main island of Tongatapu. As we got closer, the images from the seafloor clearly showed a layer of ash several centimetres thick overlaying the white bedrock of the main Tongan islands.

Our highest elevation site at 2128 m, Mt Potts is also one our sites very exposed to wind.