Atmospheric analysis

With cascading waterfalls and native bush tumbling down mountainous terrain, Fiordland is one of the most eye-catching parts of the country. But peer beneath the waves and you'll see that Fiordland's marine invertebrate and seaweed communities are every bit as remarkable and awe-inspiring.

Christchurch-based environmental monitoring technicians Alec Dempster and Pieter Havelaar got way off the beaten track this week, heading to a snow-covered Mt Potts for weather station servicing in clear blue skies and some of the deepest snow they’ve ever worked in.

A project is under way to determine whether Aotearoa New Zealand’s long defunct rock oyster industry can be revived.

After 40 years of work, retired NIWA fisheries scientist Larry Paul has just published a 793-page bibliography of references to New Zealand marine fishes. Everything known and ichthyological that appears in our waters is referenced in the voluminous tome.

An interactive guide to the marine biota of the Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua) Marine Area.

Aotearoa New Zealand has just experienced its warmest winter on record – well exceeding the previous record which was set just last year.

Irrigation Insight is a joint industry programme funded by MBIE to examine, on working farms, the ease and effectiveness of using high-resolution weather forecasting, production potential, and drainage estimations for on-farm water management.

A record-equalling top temperature of 23ᵒC in Akaroa on Tuesday prompted a feeling of déjà vu for NIWA forecaster Ben Noll.

A closer eye is now being kept on Stewart Island’s climate thanks to the installation of a new electronic weather station.

The Inner Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana ecosystem is facing proliferations of algae, de-oxygenation, reduced pH (acidification), reduced water clarity, and muddier sediments arising from historical and future land-derived contaminant inputs.

Without the global CFC ban we’d already be facing the reality of a “scorched earth”, according to researchers measuring the impact of the Montreal Protocol.

Developing innovative, non-invasive alternatives for surveying scallops and harvesting.