Environmental Reporting, Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand
Date
2015-10-21
Description
"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 layer shows annual sunshine hours across New Zealand for 2005 as part of the data series for years 1972 to 2013. Data is for a calendar year (January-December).
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"
Source
Source: National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research
Method: "This indicator assesses the annual number of sunshine hours around New Zealand and the annual sunshine anomaly (Units: percentage of normal) for New Zealand. ‘Normal’ has been calculated from the mean values from 1981–2010.
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)
.
Care should be taken when comparing maps from year to year. There may be days missing from station observations used to build the sunshine hours GIS data set. As a result, data may have been interpolated to complete the data set. The interpolation accuracy is lowest in areas of high elevation, where there are fewer climate stations and the complex terrain affects accuracy. Also, climate stations may open and close over time, which will also affect the accuracy of the data provided.
The accuracy of the data source is of high quality. "
