Research

All NIWA research projects

  • Identifying rip currents using artificial intelligence

    Research Project
    NIWA and Surf Life Saving New Zealand are working together to develop a state-of-the-art, rip current identification tool.
  • Investigating ecological impacts on freshwater insects from LED streetlight conversions

    Research Project
    Little is known what impact artificial streetlights have on flying freshwater insects which are integral to our waterway ecosystems.
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    Explainer: Uncertainties in flood risk assessments

    Research Project
    University of Canterbury’s Professor Matthew Wilson, one of the Mā te haumaru ō te wai research team, gives us some insight on uncertainty.weather
  • Cultural Keystone Species

    Research Project
    A four-year research programme focused on the co-management and restoration of our freshwater taonga species.
  • Pacific Risk Tool for Resilience, Phase 2 (PARTneR-2)

    Research Project
    The three-year PARTneR–2 project aims to help countries in the Pacific become more resilient to the impacts of climate-related hazards.
  • River flow forecasting

    Research Project
    NIWA is developing a national river flow forecasting tool for New Zealand that aims to support and strengthen our planning for and response to extreme rainfall events.
  • Pacific Sunrise

    Climate Data for the Environment Services Client (CliDEsc)

    Research Project
    CliDEsc is a web-based content management system and product generator library developed by NIWA in consultation with National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in the Pacific region, and with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
  • Freshwater bioremediation using native mussels - focussed on shallow eutrophic lakes

    Research Project
    The project aim was to harness the filter-feeding capacity of native freshwater mussels on rafts to assist in lake restoration.
  • Hauraki Integrated Land-Water Modelling

    Research Project
    The Inner Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana ecosystem is facing proliferations of algae, de-oxygenation, reduced pH (acidification), reduced water clarity, and muddier sediments arising from historical and future land-derived contaminant inputs.
  • Tsunami generated by underwater volcanoes

    Research Project
    Marsden-funded research investigating how erupting volcanoes can cause deadly and damaging tsunamis.
  • Sea2Cloud – how marine aerosols influence the atmosphere and climate

    Research Project
    Clouds over the ocean, and how they trap or emit radiation from the sun, are partly influenced by the biology, biogeochemistry and physics of the surface ocean below.
  • eFlows Explorer

    Research Project
    The eFlows Explorer webtool is designed to aid broad-scale river flow management planning across New Zealand