“Show me the whole of the previous year’s nitrate values for the area that I drew on the interactive map.”
Screenshot of the Water Quality Information System (WQIS) website.
Need water quality information?
The Water Quality Information System (WQIS) is a free national data service provided by NIWA. WQIS comprises monthly water quality data dating back to 1989 from 77 river monitoring sites around New Zealand. The data is already used for national state of the environment reporting and a wide variety of other environmental investigations, and the provision of this dataset through WQIS should greatly enhance its availability and value to the country.
NIWA’s database specialist Steve Massey says the system uses leading-edge database technologies, including spatial and time series 'datablades’, providing sophisticated specialised extensions to traditional relational databases. Interactive digital maps are used both to drive spatial data searches and to show the locations of water quality data search results on a map. The powerful and flexible search function allows the user to search for any combination of time series, non-time series, and spatial data for selected water quality parameters, all at the same time.
WQIS data include all major water quality parameters including dissolved oxygen, temperature, clarity and turbidity, pH, and concentrations of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and faecal indicator bacteria. We plan to add periphyton data, a useful biological indicator of river health.
Long term, the aim is for WQIS to become a national repository of water quality data, for example handling data collected by regional authorities and other environmental agencies. http://wqis.niwa.co.nz
Related links
These are other freshwater databases provided by NIWA.