Data

Particulate matter (PM) comprises solid and liquid particles in the air. PM10 particles have a diameter less than 10 micrometres. Coarse particles (2.5–10 micrometres) can be inhaled – they generally deposit in the upper airways; fine particles (smaller than 2.5 micrometres) can deposit deep in the lungs where air-gas exchange occurs. Children, the elderly, and people with existing heart or lung issues have a higher risk of health problems from exposure to PM10. These problems include decreased lung function, heart attack, and mortality.
Human-generated PM10 sources include burning wood and coal for home heating, and traffic emissions (eg combustion, tyre and brake wear, and pavement breakdown). Natural sources include sea salt, dust, pollen, and mould spores.
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.

Heavy metals in river waters are an indicator of river water quality. We monitor a subset of rivers and streams in predominantly urban areas in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, and look at how these values are changing over time. This indicator shows:

• trends in concentrations based on measurements made at monitoring sites during the seven-year period from 2011 to 2017

Summary report available at www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/fresh-water/urban-riv....

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.

Heavy metals in river waters are an indicator of river water quality. We monitor a subset of rivers and streams in predominantly urban areas in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, and look at how these values are changing over time. This indicator shows:

• concentrations of dissolved copper and zinc measured at monitoring sites for the three-year period from 2015 to 2017
• how these compare to the default guideline values for the protection of 95 percent of species in the Australian and New Zealand guidelines for fresh and marine water quality (ANZG, 2018)

Summary report available at www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/fresh-water/urban-riv....

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.

This indicator measures the physical habitat condition of New Zealand waterways. We report on 369 sites across six North Island regions and 90 sites in one South Island region (Southland), identifying the overall state of stream habitat at each site based on at least three years of data between 2013/14 and 2018/19. Ten physical habitat components are measured during the assessment, including bank erosion and the diversity and abundance of fish cover (Clapcott et al, 2019).

Summary report available at www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/fresh-water/indicator...

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.

This indicator measures the average percentage of streambed covered by fine sediment for areas of smooth, unbroken water in hard-bottomed, wadeable streams and rivers, at 215 sites across six regions assessed at least bi-monthly for two consecutive years between 2014 and 2019.

Summary report available at www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/fresh-water/indicator....

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.

This dataset summaries backpack electric fishing observations from the New Zealand Freshwater Fish Database for the period 1998 - 2018. It provides the locations and scores for Fish Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) (including sub-metric scores).

Technical report available at www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/environmental-reporti....

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.