Hazards

NIWA researchers study geological, weather and coastal hazards, including the impact of climate change on some of these.

  • Kaikōura Canyon

    Our team of researchers have recently returned from a voyage onboard RV Tangaroa to retrieve moorings deployed to collect sediment samples from the Kaikōura Canyon.
  • Hotspot watch 29 October 2020

    Hotspot
    A weekly update describing soil moisture patterns across the country to show where dry to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent.
  • Hotspot Watch 22 October 2020

    Hotspot
    A weekly update describing soil moisture patterns across the country to show where dry to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent.
  • Underwater robot getting close-up look at Kaikōura Canyon

    Media release
    A six-metre long orange underwater robot is flying through the Kaikōura Canyon for the next month collecting information on how the canyon has changed since the 2016 earthquake.
  • New tsunami monitoring system for Pacific

    Feature story
    A network of state-of-the-art tsunami buoys is being deployed from New Zealand up into the Pacific to keep communities safer.
  • Serious games as a tool to engage people

    Service
    NIWA is using serious games to look at problems holistically, support understanding and give a framework for climate change adaptation decision-making.
  • Tsunami evacuation zones home to 1 in 10 New Zealanders

    Media release
    NIWA scientists have completed the first national assessment of people and buildings at risk in New Zealand’s tsunami evacuation zones.
  • A flair for finding gas bubble flares

    NIWA marine geologist Arne Pallentin is looking for telltale gas bubble 'flares"—using a multibeam echosounder—that indicate new volcanic activity in the Calypso Vent Field.
  • Using sound to see what's happening geologically

    Marine geologist - Dr Joshu Mountjoy - is mapping the seafloor landscape around Whakaari/White Island to understand how much sediment was dislodged in the eruption and where it has gone.
  • What's in a bubble?

    Marine Geophysicist Sally Watson, maps the seafloor and takes samples from the water column so we can understand geological processes shaping the volcanic underwater realm around Whakaari/White Island.
  • RV Tangaroa multibeam

    2020 - Bay of Plenty acoustics

    During the TAN2007 voyage NIWA scientists headed to the waters around Whakaari/White Island in the Bay of Plenty to survey changes to the seafloor since the volcanic eruption in December 2019.
  • NIWA mapping seafloor around Whakaari/White Island

    Media release
    NIWA scientists are heading to the waters around Whakaari/White Island in the Bay of Plenty next week to survey changes to the seafloor.