Environmental Reporting Data - Page 9

The ocean waters surrounding New Zealand vary in temperature from north to south. They interact with heat and moisture in the atmosphere and affect our weather. Long-term changes and short-term variability in sea-surface temperatures can affect marine processes, habitats, and species. Some species may find it hard to survive in changing environmental conditions.

This layer shows annual sea-surface temperature difference from normal for 1997 as part of the data series for years 1993 to 2013. "Normal" is defined as the average sea-surface temperature for 1993–2013.

NIWA’s sea-surface temperature archive is derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite data it receives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The archive provides high spatial (approximately 1km) and high temporal (approximately 6-hourly in cloud-free locations) resolution estimates of sea-surface temperatures over the New Zealand region, dating from January 1993. Uddstrom and Oien (1999) and Uddstrom (2003) describe the methods used to derive and validate the data.

This dataset relates to the "Annual average sea-surface temperature" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

Geometry: grid

Unit: percent

Further information can be found in:

Uddstrom, MJ (2003). Lessons from high-resolution satellite SSTs. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 84(7), 896–897.

Uddstrom, MJ, & Oien, NA (1999). On the use of high resolution satellite data to describe the spatial and temporal variability of sea surface temperatures in the New Zealand region. Journal of Geophysical Research (Oceans) 104, chapter 9, 20729–20751.

A consistent band of westerly wind flows across the Southern Hemisphere and circles the South Pole. The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) describes how this band moves, either north towards the equator (negative phase) or south towards Antarctica (positive phase). A negative phase typically causes increased westerlies, unsettled weather, and storms in New Zealand. A phase can last several weeks, but changes can be rapid and unpredictable.
The SAM is one of three climate oscillations that affect our weather. The resulting changes in air pressure, sea temperature, and wind direction can last for weeks to decades, depending on the oscillation.
More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

The ocean waters surrounding New Zealand vary in temperature from north to south. They interact with heat and moisture in the atmosphere and affect our weather. Long-term changes and short-term variability in sea-surface temperatures can affect marine processes, habitats, and species. Some species may find it hard to survive in changing environmental conditions.

This layer shows annual average sea surface temperature for 2000 as part of the data series for years 1993 to 2013.

NIWA’s sea-surface temperature archive is derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite data it receives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The archive provides high spatial (approximately 1km) and high temporal (approximately 6-hourly in cloud-free locations) resolution estimates of sea-surface temperatures over the New Zealand region, dating from January 1993. Uddstrom and Oien (1999) and Uddstrom (2003) describe the methods used to derive and validate the data.

This dataset relates to the "Annual average sea-surface temperature" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

Geometry: grid
Unit: degrees Celsius

Further information can be found in:
Uddstrom, MJ (2003). Lessons from high-resolution satellite SSTs. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 84(7), 896–897.
Uddstrom, MJ, & Oien, NA (1999). On the use of high resolution satellite data to describe the spatial and temporal variability of sea surface temperatures in the New Zealand region. Journal of Geophysical Research (Oceans) 104, chapter 9, 20729–20751.

The ocean waters surrounding New Zealand vary in temperature from north to south. They interact with heat and moisture in the atmosphere and affect our weather. Long-term changes and short-term variability in sea-surface temperatures can affect marine processes, habitats, and species. Some species may find it hard to survive in changing environmental conditions.

This layer shows annual average sea surface temperature for 2003 as part of the data series for years 1993 to 2013.

NIWA’s sea-surface temperature archive is derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite data it receives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The archive provides high spatial (approximately 1km) and high temporal (approximately 6-hourly in cloud-free locations) resolution estimates of sea-surface temperatures over the New Zealand region, dating from January 1993. Uddstrom and Oien (1999) and Uddstrom (2003) describe the methods used to derive and validate the data.

This dataset relates to the "Annual average sea-surface temperature" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

Geometry: grid
Unit: degrees Celsius

Further information can be found in:
Uddstrom, MJ (2003). Lessons from high-resolution satellite SSTs. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 84(7), 896–897.
Uddstrom, MJ, & Oien, NA (1999). On the use of high resolution satellite data to describe the spatial and temporal variability of sea surface temperatures in the New Zealand region. Journal of Geophysical Research (Oceans) 104, chapter 9, 20729–20751.

"Sunshine is important for our health and recreation, and for the environment. It is also important for our agriculture-based economy, for example, for plant growth.

This dataset shows average annual sunshine hours across New Zealand for years 1972 to 2013.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) mapped mean annual sunshine hours from the virtual climate station network data (NIWA) generated from data in its National Climate Database, for the period 1981–2013. It generated the Units: percentage of normal by comparing the annual average to the long-term mean for 1981–2010. Maps were produced using the Virtual Climate Station network data. Data for each year are measured over the calendar year (January–December).

The accuracy of the data source is of high quality.

This dataset relates to the ""Sunshine hours in New Zealand"" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

Geometry: grid
Unit: hrs/yr"

"The Lake Trophic Level Index (TLI) characterises the life supporting capacity of a lake based on nutrient enrichment. In general, the higher the TLI score, the poorer the water quality in the lake. Lakes with extremely poor quality are rarely suitable for recreation and provide poor quality habitat for aquatic species.
Care should be taken when interpreting these results. Monitored lakes consist of about 4 percent of all New Zealand lakes, and programmes may focus on those that have poor water quality or are at risk due to the type of land use in their catchment.
After checking for data consistency, the lakes considered suitable for national comparison are sparsely and unevenly distributed, with gaps in the Manawatu, Taranaki, Tasman, Marlborough, Otago, and West Coast regions. The lakes considered in the analysis are located mainly in Northland, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, and Canterbury.
This dataset relates to the ""Lake water quality: trophic level index"" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.
"

Soil moisture is important for plant growth. A lack of moisture content over a growing season is a good indicator of drought, which can have social, environmental, and economic impacts. Increasing temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns are expected to increase the frequency and intensity of drought in many regions. Growing season soil moisture deficits are estimated by the potential evapotranspiration deficit, the difference between rainfall and evapotranspiration.

This layer shows the standardised annual soil moisture (potential evapotranspiration deficit (PED)) across New Zealand for 1972 as part of the data series for years 1972 to 2013.

Evapotranspiration is the loss of water by evaporation and plant transpiration. PED is the difference between estimated evapotranspiration and rainfall.

We produced maps of the standardised annual PED (the departure from the 1981–2010 average, divided by the 1981–2010 standard deviation) were produced for every growing season (calculated as July–June years) from 1972 to 2013.

Care should be taken when comparing maps from year to year – days may be missing from the PED GIS data, and data may have been interpolated to complete the dataset. The interpolation accuracy is lowest in areas of high elevation, where there are fewer climate stations and complex terrain affects accuracy. Climate stations may also open and close, affecting the accuracy of the data provided.

This dataset relates to the "Soil moisture and drought" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

"This data identified areas in the North Island that have been classified as being the most productive for growing food. It supports most crops across New Zealand. Expanding lifestyle blocks and urban areas reduce the availability of high-class land for commercial crop growing, and this land is unlikely to be returned to primary production. This affects our commercial food-production capacity.

This data set relates to the "High-class land for food production" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website."

Groundwater is the water stored beneath Earth’s surface in aquifers (layers of water-bearing rock or sand). It is used for human and stock drinking water, irrigation, and industry, and also has a role in sustaining some rivers, lakes, and wetlands, especially during low-flow periods. The health of surface-water ecosystems also depends on groundwater.

Estimated national groundwater volumes by year and aquifer type (confined, or unconfined)
aquifer_ty = aquifer type
cubicm = estimated groundwater volume in cubic metres (m3)

This dataset relates to the "Groundwater physical stocks" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

The ocean waters surrounding New Zealand vary in temperature from north to south. They interact with heat and moisture in the atmosphere and affect our weather. Long-term changes and short-term variability in sea-surface temperatures can affect marine processes, habitats, and species. Some species may find it hard to survive in changing environmental conditions.

This layer shows annual sea-surface temperature difference from normal for 1995 as part of the data series for years 1993 to 2013. "Normal" is defined as the average sea-surface temperature for 1993–2013.

NIWA’s sea-surface temperature archive is derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite data it receives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The archive provides high spatial (approximately 1km) and high temporal (approximately 6-hourly in cloud-free locations) resolution estimates of sea-surface temperatures over the New Zealand region, dating from January 1993. Uddstrom and Oien (1999) and Uddstrom (2003) describe the methods used to derive and validate the data.

This dataset relates to the "Annual average sea-surface temperature" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

Geometry: grid

Unit: percent

Further information can be found in:

Uddstrom, MJ (2003). Lessons from high-resolution satellite SSTs. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 84(7), 896–897.

Uddstrom, MJ, & Oien, NA (1999). On the use of high resolution satellite data to describe the spatial and temporal variability of sea surface temperatures in the New Zealand region. Journal of Geophysical Research (Oceans) 104, chapter 9, 20729–20751.