Environmental Reporting Data - Page 5

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.

Since PM10 is small enough to be inhaled, exposure can cause cardiovascular and respiratory health problems, such as heart attack, stroke, lung cancer, and premature death. It can also aggravate asthma and has been linked with diabetes. 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.

This dataset reports on the seasonal trends assessed for the period 2011-2020.

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.

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.

Since PM10 is small enough to be inhaled, exposure can cause cardiovascular and respiratory health problems, such as heart attack, stroke, lung cancer, and premature death. It can also aggravate asthma and has been linked with diabetes. 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.

This dataset reports on the annual trends assessed for the period 2011-2020.

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.

Ground-level (tropospheric) ozone (O3) exists at a natural background level but is also produced when nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds from vehicle emissions, petrol fumes, industrial processes solvents, and other human-made sources react in the presence of heat and sunlight. It is the primary component of photochemical smog. Ozone also occurs naturally in the stratosphere, where it protects us from ultraviolet radiation – this ozone occasionally can mix downwards to ground level.

Ozone is a colourless, odourless gas. Exposure to high concentrations of ozone can cause respiratory health problems and is linked to cardiovascular health problems and increased mortality. Those most at risk include people with asthma, children, older adults, and people who are active outdoors, such as outdoor workers. People with certain genetic characteristics and nutrient deficiencies are also at greater risk from ozone exposure. Ozone can also affect sensitive vegetation and ecosystems and can cause damage during the growing season.

This dataset reports on the annual trends assessed for the period 2011-2020.

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.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colourless, odourless and tasteless gas. The most common sources of carbon monoxide are from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels such as fuel used by vehicles, and from wood and coal, commonly burnt in fires for home heating. Other common sources of carbon monoxide are tobacco smoke and indoor gas fires. It also occurs naturally, for example, from volcanoes and wildfires.

Carbon monoxide can affect human health by interfering with the blood’s ability to absorb and circulate oxygen and by aggravating heart conditions. It has a relatively long life in the atmosphere – about three months. This is due to the slow rate at which carbon monoxide oxidises, forming carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas). Carbon monoxide also has an important role in forming smog.

This dataset reports on the seasonal trends assessed for the period 2011-2020.

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.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colourless, odourless and tasteless gas. The most common sources of carbon monoxide are from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels such as fuel used by vehicles, and from wood and coal, commonly burnt in fires for home heating. Other common sources of carbon monoxide are tobacco smoke and indoor gas fires. It also occurs naturally, for example, from volcanoes and wildfires.

Carbon monoxide can affect human health by interfering with the blood’s ability to absorb and circulate oxygen and by aggravating heart conditions. It has a relatively long life in the atmosphere – about three months. This is due to the slow rate at which carbon monoxide oxidises, forming carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas). Carbon monoxide also has an important role in forming smog.

This dataset reports on the annual trends assessed for the period 2011-2020.

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 air pollutant emissions indicator reports on national human-generated (anthropogenic) emissions of particulate matter (PM10 – particles smaller than 10 micrometres and PM2.5 – the subset of PM10 particles that are smaller than 2.5 micrometres), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), and sulphur dioxide (SO2), between 2012 and 2019. The grouped sources include: energy (combustion), transport, construction (non-combustion), road dust, industrial (non-combustion), agriculture, biomass burning, and waste. Only human-generated emissions were included in this emission inventory.

When air pollution levels are high, they can affect human and ecosystem health. An emissions inventory provides information on the sources and quantities of key air pollutants that are released into the atmosphere. By understanding the amounts that different sources contribute, air quality can be better managed and modelled.

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.

These data are the raw river water quality observations used to calculate state and trends for the period ending 2017.

It contains ten parameters of water quality based on measurements made at monitored river sites:

• Nitrate-nitrogen
• Ammoniacal nitrogen
• Ammoniacal nitrogen (adjusted)
• Total nitrogen
• Total phosphorus
• Dissolved reactive phosphorus
• Water clarity
• Turbidity
• Escherichia coli
• Macroinvertebrate community index

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More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the summary report available at www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/fresh-water/water-qua....

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Note: This dataset has a large number of rows, which Microsoft Excel may not be able to fully open. A DBMS, statistical or GIS application is needed to view the entire dataset.

11 June 2021: A revised version of this dataset has been published to correct the terminology used to compare nitrate-nitrogen values to the 3 g/m3 guideline value. The field name has been changed from “reference_condition” to “n_n_guideline”, and values in this field will now be either “Does not exceed” or “Exceeds”, instead of “Meets” or “Does not meet”.

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20 July 2020: We corrected the data about drinking water standards for E. coli and nitrate-nitrogen in the key findings for groundwater quality.

For the five-year period 2014‒2018:

• 68 percent of 364 sites failed to meet the E.coli drinking water standards (changed from 98 percent of 145 sites failed to meet the E. coli drinking water standards)
• 19 percent of 433 sites didn’t meet nitrate-nitrogen standards (changed from 28 percent of 403 sites failed to meet the nitrate-nitrogen drinking water standards).

This indicator measures groundwater quality in New Zealand’s aquifers and how it is changing over time, based on measurements made at monitored sites. We report on nitrate-nitrogen, ammoniacal nitrogen, dissolved reactive phosphorus, chloride, conductivity and Escherichia coli (E. coli) including:

• median values for the period 2014–18
• nitrate-nitrogen median values compared to a guideline value of 3 grams per cubic metre (g/m3). This value is defined as a concentration that indicates groundwater has been influenced by industrialised agriculture and is highly likely to have been impacted by human activity (per Morgenstern & Daughney, 2012 and Daughney & Reeves, 2005).
• the proportion of samples from each site that have concentrations of nitrate-nitrogen or E. coli in excess of the Maximum Acceptable Values for protection of human health (Ministry of Health, 2018).

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.

11 June 2021: A revised version of this dataset has been published to correct the terminology used to compare nitrate-nitrogen values to the 3 g/m3 guideline value. The field name has been changed from “ref_meet” to “n_n_guideline”, and values in this field will now be either “Does not exceed” or “Exceeds”, instead of “Meets” or “Does not meet”.

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This dataset measures groundwater quality in New Zealand’s aquifers based on measurements made at monitored sites. Many factors influence the quality of our groundwater. Nitrogen, which occurs naturally in groundwater, can increase in concentrations due to agricultural and urban land use, and infrastructure such as waste treatment plants. High concentrations of nitrate-nitrogen in groundwater can affect human health and the quality of surrounding rivers and lakes that receive inflows from groundwater. Ammoniacal nitrogen can cause an undesirable smell that may make groundwater unsuitable for drinking water. Natural processes in groundwater can convert nitrate-nitrogen into ammoniacal nitrogen or other forms under some chemical conditions. Surplus phosphorus drains (leaches) into groundwater as dissolved reactive phosphorus. Too much nitrate-nitrogen, ammoniacal nitrogen, and phosphorus can lead to excessive plant and algae growth where groundwater flows into surface water. E. coli in groundwater is measured in colony forming units (cfu) and can indicate the presence of pathogens (disease-causing organisms) from animal or human faeces. The pathogens can cause illness for anyone who ingests them.

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.

23 April 2021: A new version of this data set has been published. It includes data on 4 parameters (Ammoniacal nitrogen (adjusted), Escherichia coli, Macroinvertebrate Community Index and Total Phosphorus) that had been missing from the file that was published as part of the Our freshwater 2020 release in April 16 2020. The updated data set also includes data on DRP for all 593,337 REC segments, since the file from April 16 2020 only had data for 255,860 of these segments.

16 April 2020: Subsequent to publication in April 2019 we discovered two small errors with this dataset. These included:

• Errors in the coordinates of some sites and their associated metadata (such as landcover and elevation).
• Errors in our calculation of dominant landcover.

In addition, flow data from TopNet has also been updated.

These changes have a minor impact on overall results. These changes have have been corrected, and are republished here, as part of the Our freshwater 2020 release.

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION

1) The main (cleaned) dataset is structured by each row having a nzsegment and np_id combination. A large dataset (~ 1 GB) has resulted, due to the inclusion of the ANZG/NOF columns and the 10 different np_id values. There are ~ 6 million rows to this dataset, however a 32-bit version of Microsoft Excel will only display/download ~ 1 million rows. __A DBMS, statistical or GIS application is needed to view the entire dataset__.

2) A smaller raw dataset (see attachments) is provided which structures each row relating to a river segment and drops the ANZG/NOF columns.

3) The attached metadata/date quality report provides further information on the NOF, ANZG and the "McDowell meet/doesnt meet" attachment.

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This dataset contains ten parameters of water quality based on measurements made at monitored river sites:

• Nitrate-nitrogen
• Ammoniacal nitrogen
• Ammoniacal nitrogen (adjusted)
• Total nitrogen
• Total phosphorus
• Dissolved reactive phosphorus
• Water clarity
• Turbidity
• Escherichia coli
• Macroinvertebrate community index These parameters are used to measure:
• Modelled median values for all of New Zealand’s river length for the period 2013 to 2017
• For selected indicators, how the modelled values compare to the National Objectives Framework (NOF) (MfE, 2017) bands related to ecosystem health and human health for recreation, and to expected concentrations in natural conditions, as shown by the default guideline values in the Australian and New Zealand guidelines for fresh and marine water quality (ANZG, 2018)

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.

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