No.04 2005

Vessels rise to Argo challenge

Tide advice for rescue centre

Picture perfect for port

Sounds surveyed

How green's the bay?

How green's the bay?

How green's the bay?

Mean chlorophyll concentrations in the Bay of Plenty for October 1997–2004.

NIWA is applying a cutting-edge method of estimating surface chlorophyll concentrations around the coast to help Environment Bay of Plenty with work on aquaculture management areas.
Chlorophyll is produced by microscopic plants (phytoplankton), and its concentration is related to the amount of phytoplankton in the water. These organisms are at the base of the marine food chain, so it is important to estimate how much phytoplankton there is.

Picture perfect for port

Picture perfect for port

Colour terrain model of the EM3000 multibeam data overlain on an aerial photograph for Port Taranaki. This shows the level of detail now available for port engineering projects.

NIWA’s recent survey for Westgate Transport, which runs Port Taranaki, demonstrates the remarkable detail of our EM3000 multibeam mapping.
The survey, commissioned by Duffill Watts & King, aimed to establish a clear picture of the nature of the seabed before deepening of the harbour.

Vessels rise to Argo challenge

Vessels rise to Argo challenge

It’s a float’s life: the 10-day cycle of data collection.

NIWA research vessels, criss-crossing the Pacific, are making a major contribution to Argo, the international ocean observation programme.
Argo aims to maintain a global network of high-tech floats measuring currents, temperature, and salinity in the upper ocean. ‘Filling the remote South Pacific was always going to be a big challenge,’ says Professor Dean Roemmich of Scripps Institution of Oceanography (San Diego, USA).
That’s where NIWA came in.

Sounds surveyed

Sounds surveyed

The wreck of the Soviet cruise liner Mikhail Lermontov which sank at Port Gore, Marlborough Sounds, on 16 February 1986. This image was created by NIWA using the same high-frequency side-scan sonar technology that we use for mapping seafloor habitats for FRIAs, marine conservation, and port developments.

Tide advice for rescue centre

Tide advice for rescue centre

When packages of a toxic fumigant were found off the Northland coast in April, the Rescue Coordination Centre called NIWA for advice on tides.
Tides are a significant part of the currents around New Zealand. For example, around North Cape, tidal currents can flow at up to 50 centimetres per second (or 1 knot).
NIWA’s tide model can calculate surface height and depth-averaged currents for any location around New Zealand, making it a handy tool in helping locate things drifting at sea.

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