On 1 July 2025, NIWA merged with GNS Science to become Earth Sciences New Zealand.

Scientific Tools & Data

NIWA offers a diverse range of scientific tools and data to support research, analysis, education and exploration across various fields of science and environmental studies.

Supporting research, education & exploration

NIWA offers a diverse range of scientific tools and data across various fields of science and environmental studies. Many of the data sets can be discovered via the National Environmental Data Centre. These include data from the atmosphere through to the ocean depths. New Zealand’s National Climate Database (accessed through Datahub), is one of the most popular.

Explore our data sets

  • Link to source page

    Ivory Glacier - compact weather station (CWS)

    The Ivory Glacier SIN site is located at 1390 m next to Ivory Lake, west of the main divide of the Southern Alps/ Kā Tiritiri Te Moana.
    Hydrology and flow
    Stations

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    A robot sea craft helps count fish

    A six-metre-long autonomous vessel is equipped with artificial intelligence and a range of data gathering equipment, including a battery powered echosounder that can estimate the size of fish populations.
    Tides
    Fisheries
    Oceans

  • Link to source page

    Cutting-edge AI sea craft helping scientists count fish

    Media release
    21 February 2022
    A robot sea craft is the latest tool NIWA scientists are using to help them count fish.
    Coasts
    Fisheries
    Oceans

  • Link to source page

    Mapping the oceans through citizen science

    The Seabed 2030 South and West Pacific Ocean Data Center is one of four global Regional Centres, each being responsible for data gathering and mapping in their territory.
    Fish
    Oceans
    Bathymetry

  • Link to source page

    Seabed 2030

    Did you know NIWA is leading a NZ partnership in a worldwide initiative to map the entire globe’s seafloor? Found out more about the Seabed 2030 initiative.
    Oceans
    Seabed mapping
    Pacific ocean science

  • Link to source page

    Surveying scallop populations with artificial intelligence

    News article
    21 December 2021
    Developing a non-invasive automated method of counting and measuring scallops to monitor their populations.
    Fisheries
    AI & deep learning

  • Link to source page

    2021 - Macquarie Ridge

    Voyage
    RV Tangaroa has sailed to the Macquarie Ridge to under charter by Australia’s CSIRO Marine National Facility to recover ocean bottom seismometers and acquire multibeam sonar and sub‐bottom profile data in the Macquarie Island region.
    Acoustics
    Voyages

  • Link to source page

    Stewart Island gets new electronic weather station

    Media release
    24 August 2021
    A closer eye is now being kept on Stewart Island’s climate thanks to the installation of a new electronic weather station.
    Climate and weather
    Stations

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    Surveying scallops populations with artificial intelligence

    Developing innovative, non-invasive alternatives for surveying scallops and harvesting.
    Fisheries
    Oceans
    AI & deep learning

  • Link to source page

    The fine art of forecasting

    Feature story
    04 August 2021
    Susan Pepperell looks at how high-resolution forecasting is driving sharper decision making – from deep in the back country to the finish line of the America’s Cup.
    Climate and weather
    Ocean modelling
    Weather forecasting

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    Supercharging the view from above

    Feature story
    04 August 2021
    From 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.
    Antarctica
    Climate data
    Coasts

  • Link to source page

    Know your snow

    Feature story
    04 August 2021
    With the winter snowpack starting to build, who’s keeping an eye out on conditions in the mountains?
    Climate and weather
    Weather hazards
    Stations