Coasts

Latest news

Tsunami evacuation zones home to 1 in 10 New Zealanders

19 August 2020

NIWA scientists have completed the first national assessment of people and buildings at risk in New Zealand’s tsunami evacuation zones.

Researchers on hunt for fish nurseries

Media Release

7 August 2020

NIWA researchers are heading out from Tasman early next week to survey an area thought to be home to important juvenile fish nurseries.

Squat lobster memoir hot off the press

Media Release

6 August 2020

After a decade-long effort, NIWA’s latest Biodiversity Memoir has just rolled off the presses. Written by marine biologist Kareen Schnabel, the 350-page treatise presents everything we currently know about the different kinds of squat lobster living in New Zealand’s waters.

Nameless nodes get new look from NIWA

Media Release

29 July 2020

At the bottom of the Southern Ocean, near Cape Adare in East Antarctica, lies an undersea ridge which until this month was only known by its co-ordinates: -71.2132 latitude, 172.1649 longitude.

Our work

Changes in juvenile fish habitats

NIWA is looking for people who have had a long association with the Hauraki Gulf or Marlborough Sounds to help them with a research project on juvenile fish habitats.

Coastal adaptation to climate change

NIWA is developing guidelines and advice to help coastal communities adapt to climate change.

Plastic pollution processes in rivers

Most of the plastic in the ocean originates on land, being carried to the estuaries and coasts by rivers. Managing this plastic on land before it reaches the river could be the key to stemming the tide of marine-bound plastics. The aim of this project is to understand the sources and fate of plastic pollution carried by urban rivers using the Kaiwharawhara Stream as a case study.

Restoration of seagrass beds in Whangarei Harbour

Seagrass beds form an important undersea habitat for small fish, seahorses and shellfish in New Zealand.

Latest videos

Shifting Sands

Dr Joshu Mountjoy discusses NIWA's work in assessing the tsunami hazard just south of Kaikoura.

Find out more about this research.

Antarctic Coastal Marine Life in a Changing Climate

NIWA marine ecologist Dr Vonda Cummings discusses the likely effects of climate change on marine invertebrates living on the seafloor of the Ross Sea coast.

Next Stop Antarctica

Our Far South is an expedition that aims to raise New Zealanders' awareness of the area south of Stewart Island. Gareth Morgan, Te Radar, scientists and 50 everyday Kiwis are onboard to learn and then share their experience. This is the first video produced by them, showing some of the highlights of the trip so far.

Shallow Survey 2012

20 February 2012 to 24 February 2012

The 6^th International Conference on High Resolution Surveys in Shallow Waters was held in Wellington, New Zealand.

Our quality management system

Our Quality Management System is our commitment to quality, productivity, consistency and customer satisfaction.

NIWA holds ISO9001:2008 certification.

About Instrument Systems

The Instrument Systems group is located at NIWA in Christchurch, New Zealand. Our 16 staff have a diverse range of technical, engineering and science skills, and we have extended capability from being part of a wider team.

Training

We provide training in the use and maintenance of our instruments, software and data collection systems.

Service contracts

We offer service contracts to minimize downtime if an instrument fails. We keep a full range of spares in our Christchurch store and can courier a spare to the contract holder on receiving a request.

Evaluation

We evaluate new products to ensure that they're 'fit for purpose' before we approve them for widespread use.

Calibration

We calibrate environmental sensors, at our Christchurch laboratory, using reference instruments that are themselves calibrated to traceable standards by an independent organization.

Support

We service and support individual instruments, systems and nationwide networks.

Installation

We install monitoring and control systems of all sizes, throughout New Zealand, in the Pacific Islands and even the Antarctic.

Supply

We supply a complete range of environmental monitoring equipment, from small components to large systems. We also supply accessories and miscellaneous items.

Manufacturing

We manufacture items such as cables and circuit boards through to subassemblies for both standard and specialized systems.

Development

We develop custom environmental monitoring and irrigation flow-control solutions.

Design

We design instruments and systems of instruments. We have full mechanical and electronic CAD capability.

Did sea-level gauges in New Zealand detect the 2010 Chile Tsunami?

Rob Bell's analysis of the tsunami signature.

Contacts

Contacts for NIWA Invertebrate Collection staff.

Services

Instrument Systems offers a number of services, including: design, development, manufacture, supply, installation, service and support, calibration, evaluation, hire, training and service contracts.

Water Level Recorder - NIWA Hydrologger

A cost-effective water level recorder. Comprises a water surface float-driven shaft encoder and internal data logger with rainfall input. Connects directly to compatible communications devices.

Wave Gauge - NIWA DOBIE

When deployed underwater, this self-contained instrument records and analyses water waves. It can trigger other instruments and send alarms via a communications link.

Tide resources

NIWA has a range of online tools and information relating to tides, including a tide forecaster, yearly tide envelopes and storm tide "red alert" days.

Sign up for NIWA's Coasts Update

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Predicting long-term contamination in estuaries

Land-derived sediments and heavy metals are two contaminants threatening the health of New Zealand’s estuaries. NIWA has developed the Urban Stormwater Contaminant (USC) model to predict long-term sediment and heavy metal accumulation under various land-use and management scenarios. The model has recently been applied to the Waitemata and Manukau Harbours to aid planning decisions.

Seagrass restoration success in Whangarei

Beds of New Zealand seagrass (Zostera muelleri) provide important habitat for coastal species such as small fish, seahorses, and shellfish. Much of New Zealand’s seagrass habitat has been lost or degraded, mainly as a result of sedimentation. NIWA is leading a small-scale seagrass transplantation trial in Whangarei Harbour, with promising early results.

Scientists track Samoa and Vanuatu tsunami

Recent tsunami generated by earthquakes off Samoa and Vanuatu were detected by 12 sea-level gauges around New Zealand, revealing delays of up to 15 hours in local occurrence of peak waves. Using data from the Vanuatu tsunami, NIWA scientists demonstrated new hydrodynamic computer models that may soon be able to predict the effects of regional tsunamis in near real-time.

New posters reveal dynamic seafloor

Three new posters reveal the seafloor of the Cook Strait and Wellington Harbour in high resolution detail for the first time. These posters are the product of recent sophisticated seafloor mapping combined with expert marine geological knowledge acquired over decades. They are the culmination of an exceptional collaborative effort among NIWA researchers.

Coasts Update 01, December 2009

Welcome to Coasts Update, the new quarterly e-newsletter of NIWA's National Centre for Coasts. In this issue, we report on tsunami research, predicting contaminant accumulation in estuaries, seagrass restoration, and a new set of posters depicting the seafloor of Cook Strait and Wellington Harbour.