Cam-Era

Cam-Era is a network of computer-controlled cameras that monitor the New Zealand environment for research and resource management. These are also useful for surfers and swimmers.

Each hour, cameras spread throughout New Zealand automatically make contact through the phone lines with a central computer at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. The images for each site are then archived (for subsequent research purposes) and placed on the World Wide Web for your use.

A series of cameras has been established since this project started in August 1997.

Computer-controlled video cameras monitor the environment (for data collection and research) while simultaneously providing images for beach-goers, such as surfers and swimmers.

Service type: Observational / Raw Data

Cam-Era monitoring sites

Contact

If you have any comments or queries you’d like to make about Cam-era, please contact the Cam-era team.

Cam-era

  • Pauanui North, Cam-era monitoring site

    Pauanui North

    Pauanui North station
  • Pauanui South, Cam-era monitoring site

    Pauanui South

    Pauanui South Cam-era station
  • Raglan B, Cam-era monitoring site

    Raglan B

    Raglan B Cam-era station
  • Raglan A, Cam-era monitoring site

    Raglan A

    This web camera is available thanks to the support of Waikato Regional Council.
  • Tairua

    Tairua

    Tairua station
  • About the Project

    Computer-controlled video cameras monitor the environment (for data collection and research) while simultaneously providing images for beach-goers, such as surfers and swimmers.
  • (no image provided)

    Cam-Era for You

    Water Levels: Our Cam-Era installation on the Ashburton River overlooks a hapua or coastal lagoon. We know the exact location of several posts in the front of the image, and we can use these and the position of the camera to back-calculate the water level.
    What Cam-Era can do for you
    Every day we come up with new things that Cam-Era can monitor.
  • (no image provided)

    Cam-Era International

    Cam-era images from our international collaborators.
  • (no image provided)

    Feedback & Links

    Feedback
    If you have any comments or queries you’d like to make about Cam-Era, please contact the Cam-Era Team [ [email protected] ].
    Links
    Other web camera sites in New Zealand include:
    www.surf.co.nz
    www.windsurf.co.nz
    Cam-Era images help beach users to recognise dangerous surf conditions such as high waves and the location of rip currents. More information is available from Water Safety New Zealand.
    The Argus project, at the Coastal Imaging Lab at Oregon State University, is where the whole idea of monitoring coastlines using remote video links originated.
  • (no image provided)

    Collaborators

    Cam-Era has been developed through collaboration with:
    Ministry for the Environment (MfE)
    National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)
    Coastal Marine Group, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Waikato
    Institute of Information Sciences and Technology, Massey University
    Environment Waikato
    Environment Bay of Plenty
    Environment Canterbury
    Eastland Port
    Westgate Ltd (Port Taranaki)
    Taranaki District Council
    Tourism Taranaki
    Taranaki Polytechnic
    WEBCAM New Zealand
    Port of Greymouth
  • Image Editing & Movie - Cam-era

    Image Editing & Movie

    Cam-era footage processing
  • Shoreline detection & beach width

    Shoreline Detection & Beach Width

    Beach width (defined as the distance between dune crest and shoreline position at high tide) is an important parameter measuring the 'health' of a beach.
  • Forecasting rip currents - Cam-era

    Forecasting Rip Currents

    Rip currents are approximately shore-normal, seaward-directed jets that originate within the surfzone and broaden outside the breaking region. Velocities exceeding 2 m/s have been measured, so they pose significant dangers to beachgoers, as they can pull even the strongest swimmers into deep water. It is therefore desirable to predict the presence of rips currents to forewarn beachgoers and lifeguards.We explored a method of forecasting rip occurrence from offshore wave forecasts.
  • (no image provided)

    Technology and Equipment

    Cam-Era consists of a number of remote sites around the coast of New Zealand connected via the internet to NIWA’s servers.