Tagged: Environment Aotearoa 2015 in World

River water quality water is valued for many reasons including ecological function and habitat, recreational value, its role in supporting people and industry, and its cultural significance. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are essential for plant growth, however too much in rivers can lead to ‘nuisance’ growths of river algae and aquatic plants, degrading habitat. High concentrations in the form of ammoniacal nitrogen and nitrate-nitrogen can be toxic to fish and other aquatic animals. Water clarity is a measure of underwater visibility, and affects habitat of aquatic life such as fish and birds, and can also impact on aesthetic values and recreational use of rivers and streams. Escherichia coli (E.coli) can indicate the presence of pathogens (disease-causing organisms) from animal or human faeces, which can cause illness.

File contains raw data collected at regional council and NIWA monitored sites over the period 1975-2013. Fields are described as follows. Refer to Larned et al. 2015 for further details:
* nemarid ---- Unique NIWA ID
* lawaid ---- Unique LAWA ID
* rcid ---- Collection agency
* srcid ---- Region site is located in
* sflag ---- River (r) or Estuary (e)
* river ---- River name
* location ---- Name of site, assigned by collection agency
* nzmge ---- easting
* nzmgn ---- northing
* nzreach ---- REC1 segment identifier
* sdate ---- Sample date (yyyy-mm-dd)
* Q ---- Flow recorded when sample was taken (if available), cumecs
* npid ---- NIWA parameter ID (as used in Larned et al. 2015)
* lpid ---- LAWA parameter ID
* fdval ---- Parameter value (units are mg/m3, except CLAR (m) and ECOLI (n/100 mL))

For more information please see:
Larned, S, Snelder, T, Unwin, M, McBride, G, Verburg, P, McMillan, H (2015).Analysis of Water Quality in New Zealand lakes and Rivers: data sources, data sets, assumptions, limitations, methods and results. NIWA Client Report no. CHC2015-033. Available at data.mfe.govt.nz/x/Mo8VUY from the Ministry for the Environment dataservice.

This dataset relates to the "River water quality" measures on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

The 15 class Benthic-Optimised Marine Environment Classification (BOMEC). The BOMEC divides the benthic environment into ecosystem types. These are grouped into three inshore groups, three continental shelf groups, and nine deeper-water groups. Each group represents areas with similar environmental variables, such as depth, temperature, salinity, and suspended sediment. The classification system considers the distributions of eight benthic taxonomic groups: asteroids, bryozoans, benthic foraminiferans, octocorals, polychaetes, matrix-forming scleratinian corals, sponges, and benthic fish.

The location and extent of Marine reserves (type 1 marine protected areas) in the territorial sea.

Lightning is the discharge of electricity from thunderstorms. Ground strikes can cause significant damage to property and infrastructure, and injure or kill people and livestock. Lightning is often associated with other severe weather events, such as strong wind gusts. Thunderstorms may increase in frequency and intensity with climate change.
This dataset relates to the "Lightning" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

New Zealand’s four million km2 marine environment is diverse, with a range of coastal habitats and offshore seabed environments. There are also many marine species unique to New Zealand. Marine protected areas conserve or manage some of these unique habitats and species, while a range of other tools also provide marine protection. We report on the area covered by these tools as an indirect measure to understand the state of the marine environment.
Benthic protection areas (protected seabed areas) are one of the marine protection tools used. They are designated areas in the exclusive economic zone, which extends from the 12 nautical mile seaward limit of the territorial sea to the 200 nautical mile limit. Bethnic protection areas protect seabed habitats through the prohibition of bottom trawling and dredging. There are some areas where seamount closures overlap with benthic protection areas. In these cases the seamount closure restrictions apply.
Note that the thumbnail preview of this spatial data does not reflect the data underlying it. Please see the methodology for a more reflective preview.

Lightning is the discharge of electricity from thunderstorms. Ground strikes can cause significant damage to property and infrastructure, and injure or kill people and livestock. Lightning is often associated with other severe weather events, such as strong wind gusts. Thunderstorms may increase in frequency and intensity with climate change.

This dataset shows the location of sensors in the New Zealand Lightning Detection Network (NZLDN), run by MetService.

Sensors around the country detect lightning over the New Zealand land mass and a short distance out to sea. These sensors detect very accurately the electrical discharge, location, and time, as well as noting other parameters such as current strength. The NZLDN records both cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground strikes.

Sea-level rise is a consequence of climate change. Increases in global temperature cause ocean waters to expand, and glaciers and ice sheets to melt into oceans. Sea-level rise affects estuaries, coastal wetlands, and intertidal and sub-tidal habitats and species. The increased likelihood of coastal erosion from sea-level rise presents a risk for seaside communities and their infrastructure, and for the marine environment itself, from increased suspended sediments.
This dataset relates to the "Coastal sea-level rise" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

New Zealand’s four million km2 marine environment is diverse, with a range of coastal habitats and offshore seabed environments. There are also many marine species unique to New Zealand. Marine protected areas conserve or manage some of these unique habitats and species, while a range of other tools also provide marine protection. We report on the area covered by these tools as an indirect measure to understand the state of the marine environment.
Seamount (underwater mountain area) closures are one of the marine protection tools used. They are designated areas in the exclusive economic zone, which extends to the 200 nautical mile limit. Seamount closures protect underwater mountain areas through the prohibition of all trawling activity. There are some areas where seamount closures overlap with benthic protection areas. In these cases the seamount closure restrictions apply.

Extreme wave indexes estimate the occurrence of extreme wave events in coastal and oceanic waters. Extreme wave indexes estimate the number of times a significant wave height exceeds one of three threshold values for at least 12 hours in 24 marine regions. The three wave-height thresholds are four metres, six metres, and eight metres.
This indicator estimates the exceedances of wave-height thresholds for each year from 2008 to 2015 in oceanic regions around New Zealand.
Significant wave height is a measure of the ‘typical’ wave height in a place over a time period. It is four times the standard deviation of the water surface if, for example, you were to measure water moving up and down a jetty piling for an hour. The largest individual wave will typically have a height around twice the significant wave height.
We use three wave-height thresholds because of the regional variation in extreme wave events. In general, the north experiences less exposure to consistently strong winds, and the waves generated by them, than the south. Four-metre tall waves are considered extreme in the northern-most parts of New Zealand but are more common in the south. For the southern-most parts of New Zealand, eight-metre waves better represent extreme wave events.
This dataset relates to the number of extreme wave events exceeding the four metre threshold in oceanic regions.

Extreme wave indexes estimate the occurrence of extreme wave events in coastal and oceanic waters. Extreme wave indexes estimate the number of times a significant wave height exceeds one of three threshold values for at least 12 hours in 24 marine regions. The three wave-height thresholds are four metres, six metres, and eight metres.
This indicator estimates the exceedances of a wave-height threshold for each year from 2008 to 2015 in coastal regions.
Significant wave height is a measure of the ‘typical’ wave height in a place over a time period. It is four times the standard deviation of the water surface if, for example, you were to measure water moving up and down a jetty piling for an hour. The largest individual wave will typically have a height around twice the significant wave height.
We use three wave-height thresholds because of the regional variation in extreme wave events. In general, the north experiences less exposure to consistently strong winds, and the waves generated by them, than the south. Four-metre tall waves are considered extreme in the northern-most parts of New Zealand but are more common in the south. For the southern-most parts of New Zealand, eight-metre waves better represent extreme wave events.
This dataset relates to the number of extreme wave events exceeding the four metre threshold in coastal regions.