Atmosphere

World class research contributing to our understanding of greenhouse gases, ozone depletion, and urban air pollution.

  • Rainbow Mountain banner

    CarbonWatch NZ

    CarbonWatch NZ is an internationally-recognised research programme that will enable New Zealand to make the right decisions for a zero carbon future.
  • MethaneSAT Mission

    MethaneSAT

    Research Project
    Detecting and quantifying methane emissions by satellite
  • Community air: Air quality issues in NZ towns

    Research Project
    Community Air is a family of research studies, community projects and commercial services that empower local communities to engage with, assess and tackle local air quality issues.
  • Auckland motorway

    Traffic emissions mapping - black carbon and nitrogen dioxide

    Research Project
    Black carbon, commonly known as soot, is made of microscopic particles generated by incomplete combustion.
  • Total Carbon Column Observing Network

    Research Project
    NIWA participates in the Total Carbon Column Observing Network, a ground-based observing network dedicated to making precise and accurate measurements of greenhouse gas concentrations in different parts of the atmosphere.
  • Drone measuring methane in atmosphere

    Accurate quantification of methane emissions from waste and agriculture

    Research Project
    NIWA researchers are testing new methods for quantifying methane emissions from agriculture and waste.
  • Reducing COVID-19 transmission through increased ventilation

    Research Project
    Funded by the Ministry of Health, NIWA air quality researchers are carrying out research to understand ventilation behaviour and examine how well spaces used by our most vulnerable populations are, and could be, ventilated.
  • Quantifying and reducing agricultural emissions of greenhouse gases

    Research Project
    Almost half of Aotearoa New Zealand’s CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. This is a much higher proportion than most other countries – globally, agricultural emissions average around 7.5% of a country’s total emissions.
  • Community Air Watch Arrowtown

    Research Project
    Community Air Watch Arrowtown enables members of the public to use new technologies to participate in studies of air quality.
  • Schools Air Watch

    Research Project
    Schools Air Watch enables school classes to use new technologies to participate in a study of air quality in their own community.
  • Community Air Watch Invercargill

    Research Project
    Community Air Watch Invercargill enables members of the public to use new technologies to participate in studies of air quality.
  • Air Grid: using grid monitoring to map air quality

    Research Project
    Air quality is almost never consistent across NZ’s towns – polluted air can readily be transported on the breeze and accumulate in different locations.