NIWA provides a multitude of monitoring and information services underpinning New Zealand's science and environmental management: sky-to-sea, sensor-to-service, data-to-knowledge.
New Zealand's National Climate Database
The climate database holds data from about 6500 climate stations which have been operating for various periods since the earliest observations were made in the year 1850. The database continues to receive data from over 600 stations that are currently operating.
Environmental Information-
Easy access to environmental research data
Media release27 April 2022Identifying unknown organisms, forecasting the weather and understanding the potential impacts of a tsunami. These are all possibilities opened up by a new website that has been built to provide easy access to an enormous range of environmental research data. -
Climate Data for the Environment Services Client (CliDEsc)
Research ProjectCliDEsc is a web-based content management system and product generator library developed by NIWA in consultation with National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in the Pacific region, and with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. -
Field technicians greeted by thigh-deep snow
News article30 September 2021Christchurch-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. -
Investing in our data
Feature story04 August 2021NIWA Chief Executive John Morgan looks at the growing role data technology plays in environmental research. -
Supercharging the view from above
Feature story04 August 2021From the rocky shores of Wellington’s South Coast to the icy waters of Antarctica, NIWA scientists are combining drone technology with advanced computer skills to map, measure and analyse the natural environment as never before. Campbell Gardiner explains. -
The largest flood flow ever measured
Media release29 July 2021Flood flows on the Buller River this month were the largest of any river in Aotearoa New Zealand in almost 100 years, NIWA measurements show. -
Trustpower's Waipori power scheme
or over 100 years Trustpower's Waipori power scheme has supplied Dunedin with hydroelectric power. -
Subterranean sensing
Media release29 October 2020Once a year, technicians from NIWA’s North Island Field Team don helmets and head lamps to check a network of CO2 sensors in the world-renowned Waitomo Caves. The sensors help make sure that heavy breathing visitors aren’t wrecking the caves’ precious natural structures and microclimate. -
The Cylc Suite Engine
Cylc: a general purpose workflow engine that orchestrates cycling workflows very efficiently. -
Snow has been low but there’s more to come, say scientists
Media release26 August 2020NIWA’s South Island snow and ice monitoring stations have confirmed what many skiers have been talking about: winter has been dry and snow coverage has been poor. In fact, several sites have recorded half their typical snow depth for this time of year. -
Rust coding
Feature story28 July 2020Campbell Gardiner explains how hundreds of lines of computer code generated each week are helping biosecurity authorities keep a close eye on a plant pathogen. -
Citizen science – New Zealand rainfall monitoring network
For more than a century, a network of volunteers across New Zealand have been measuring the climate and weather and sending their observations each month to be entered into the New Zealand climate database.