Oceanic sea surface temperature trends, 1993–2016

We used NIWA’s sea-surface temperature archive, which is derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite data it receives from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The archive provides high spatial (approximately 1km) and high temporal (approximately six-hourly in cloud-free locations) resolution estimates of sea-surface temperatures over the New Zealand region, dating from January 1993. Uddstrom & Oien (1999) and Uddstrom (2003) describe the methods used to derive and validate the data.
Our data extends from about 30°S to 55°S, and from 160°E to 170°W and is grouped into five areas: the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the Chatham Rise, northern subtropical waters, subantarctic waters, and the Tasman Sea.
Trend direction was assessed using the Theil-Sen estimator and the Two One-Sided Test (TOST) for equivalence at the 95% confidence level.
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.