Atmospheric analysis

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.

A combination of field surveys and on-site observations are being used along with laboratory-based experiments to determine the effects of seabed disturbance on benthic life.

Most of the plastic in the ocean originates on land, being carried to the estuaries and coasts by rivers. Managing this plastic on land before it reaches the river could be the key to stemming the tide of marine-bound plastics. The aim of this project is to understand the sources and fate of plastic pollution carried by urban rivers using the Kaiwharawhara Stream as a case study.

Areas deemed hotspots now encompass large portions of the entire North Island. Hotspots remain entrenched across the northern tier of the South Island, including across northern Tasman, Nelson, and much of Marlborough.

13 February 2019. By Voyage Leader Dr Richard O'Driscoll.

After travelling almost 12,000km in the past six weeks, a group of scientists returns to Wellington at the weekend with new knowledge about life in the Ross Sea of Antarctica.

Across the North Island, soil moisture levels continued to decrease nearly everywhere during the past week. Across the South Island, soil moisture levels decreased nearly everywhere during the past week with little rainfall in the north, south and east.

9 February 2019. By Voyage Leader Dr Richard O'Driscoll.

A partnership that develops one of the world’s foremost weather forecasting and climate prediction systems.

Across the North Island, soil moisture levels decreased nearly everywhere during the past week. In the South Island, soil moisture levels decreased during the past week with meagre rainfall in the north and east.

For more than a year a frozen slab of leopard seal poo sat in a NIWA freezer. The poo, known scientifically as scat and about the size of two bread rolls, is as good as gold for leopard seal researchers.