NIWA collects daily/hourly data as part of the Climate Station Network. Parameters vary station to station with standard parameters as follows. Note: some parameters (evaporation, radiation) have different types.
| Parameter | Measurement Period | Variables included | Data Types | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pressure | Average for preceding one minute (automated observations) | Mean sea level pressure [hPa] | ||
| Screen Observations | Average for preceding one minute (automated observations) | Air temperature (dry bulb) [DegC] Wet bulb temperature [DegC] Dew point temperature [DegC] Relative humidity [percent] | ||
| Wind | Mean over preceding interval (as per field PERIOD) | Wind speed [m/s] Direction [Deg T] | Deg T = Degrees True = Degrees from true north numbered clockwise from 0 to 360; 990 = Variable 0 = Calm Direction data is rounded to the nearest 10 degrees for data sources M, S | |
| Rain | Cumulative over preceding interval (as per field PERIOD) | Rain [mm] | ||
| Evaporation | Cumulative over preceding interval (as per field PERIOD) | Evaporation [mm] | Sunken Pan (S) Raised Pan (R) Penman Open Water Evaporation (O) Penman PET (P) Priestly Taylor PET (T) | |
| Sunshine | Cumulative over preceding interval (as per field PERIOD) | Sunshine [hrs] | ||
| Radiation | Cumulative over preceding interval (as per field PERIOD) | Radiation [MJ/m2] | Global (G) Diffuse (F) Direct (R) | |
| Temperature | Max/Min over preceding interval (as per field PERIOD) | Maximum temperature [Deg C] Minimum temperature [Deg C] Grass Minimum [Deg C] | ||
| Gust | Maximum over preceding interval (as per field PERIOD) | Wind speed [m/s] Direction [Deg T] | Speed of the highest recorded wind gust during the period of observation.Direction from which the highest wind gust came during the period of observation.For case Frequency=H, origin either E=Environmental Data Recorder, M=Metar:The EDR (Environmental Data Recorder) gives the highest gust speed in the preceding hour, without a direction.The Metar only reports a gust if it is 10 or more knots above the reported mean surface wind in the 10 minutes preceding the report and occurred in the same 10-minute period. The speed in knots is converted to m/s. The direction is not given. | |
| Earth Temperature | Average for preceding one minute (automated observations) | Depth [cm]Temperature [Deg C] | ||
| Soil Moisture | Average for preceding 5 minutes (automated observations) | Depth [cm]Soil moisture [percent] | Expressed as a percentage by volume. |
Data is available for different data sources as described here.
| Source codes | Data Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| H, E | Hourly | Hourly recorded or aggregated data from recorders. |
| M | Hourly | A METAR (Meteorological Aviation Report) is an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) message format. |
| S | 3 or 6 hourly | “SYNOP”: a coded message defined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) used for reporting international weather observations typically every three or six hours. |
| D | Daily | Ingested manual daily (near real-time) for various climate products. |
| F | Varying | “Forms”, manual provided station readings. |
| R | Hourly | Data from Rain-Intensity-Gauges (Drop counter). |
| P | Varying | Data obtained from Dines-Pluviograph. |
| Q | Varying | Data from Hydra-Drop-gauge. |
Where can I get the Data?
The data can be obtained from NIWA DataHub
Data Format
- Data is provided as CSV files of individual time series, per parameter, type, and source. Naming convention for the files is: [agentno]_[parameter]_[data type]_[data source code].csv
Data source and data type is described in above tables. - The CSV files contain in addition to the measurements the following fields:
- Observation time UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
- Data Source: data source code as described in above table.
- Data Type: data type as described in above table.
- PERIOD [hrs]: period in hours over which measurement is taken (e.g. 0.17 denotes 10 minutes).
- Frequency: frequency the measurements are taken at (e.g. hourly, daily).
- The data is “packaged” as zip files for each station and parameter, naming convention for the files is [agentno]_[parameter].zip
