Interactive data maps
The climate is changing rapidly, so some data may be superseded or no longer updated due to Government cutbacks. Caution is advised; see the disclaimers on each site.
IMAGES ARE SCREEN SHOTS with links to external websites.
Image: Sonny Whitelaw
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The following were used in creating content for this website. Please let us know of other publicly accessible data maps that may be a useful.
- Climate Projections Aotearoa 2021-2099 (MfE)
- Global surface air temperatures (almost daily; Copernicus)
- Land temperature anomalies (Climate Central)
- Global waves, wind, sea and air temps., aerosols (Earth NullSchool; rapid updates)
- Satellite data (NASA e.g. floods, fires; daily updates)
- Satellite data (ESA/Copernicus e.g. NZ methane emissions)
- Natural Hazards Portal (Natural Hazards Commission; ex-EQC)
- Climate Hazards for Hapori Māori (external; MoPD)
- Canterbury Maps (dozens! external link; ECan)
- Otago Natural Hazards portal (external link; ORC)
- Environment Southland Open GIS Data (external link; ES)
- Waimakariri District Natural Hazards portal (WDC)
- High Intensity Rainfall System (HIRDS V4) (NIWA)
- Canterbury river and rainfall (rapid updates ECan)
- Drought forecasting dashboard (NIWA)
- Geology (GNS)
- Glacier loss (WGMS)
- Landslides (GIS)
- Land type tool (Lucas Associates)
- Ecosystem Reconstruction (Eco-Index/Navigator X)
- Sea surface temps. 60°N-60°S (almost daily; Copernicus)
- Global waves, wind, sea and air temps., aerosols (Earth NullSchool; rapid updates)
- Ocean temperature anomalies (Climate Central)
- Ocean: Sea Ice extent Arctic/Antarctic (NSIDC)
- Ocean: NZ Marine Heat Wave forecast (Moana Project)
- Coast: Change Rates 1938-2023 (TUA)
- Coast: Vertical land movement (NZ SeaRise)
- Coast: Projected sea level rise to 2300 (NZ SeaRise)
- Coast: Flood layers viewer (NIWA)
- Coast: Christchurch Hazards portal (CCC)
- Coast: NZ Storm Surge data tool (TUA)
- Coasts: NZ Wave data tool (TUA)
Climate Projections: Ministry for the Environment/NIWA
Click screen grab to be taken to the online portal. It contains multiple variables that allow you to explore how the climate is projected to change compared to historical base periods. Zoom in to explore what our future climate may look like based on the data used is the average (mean) of the values produced by each of the six climate models (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 or CMIP6) used by NIWA for the downscaling process.
Note: these models are projections based on available data, they are NOT predictions. Rather, they are guides that will change as more data comes to hand. They do not adequately capture extreme events. See the website for a full explanation. Also see more maps on this page for short-term projections such as drought and river flows/rainfall based on data from local weather stations. These may help indicate potential extreme short term events such as flood risks.
Global surface air temperatures: Copernicus ‘climate pulse’
Click the screen grab to be taken to the online portal. You can select air temperatures (this image was taken 06 January 2025,) or sea temperature, and either absolute value (this image) or anomalies, and choose different dates or a range of dates to see short-term trends.
Temperature anomalies: Climate Central ‘Climate Shift Index’
Click the screen grab to be taken to the online portal. It contains several variables that allow you to see daily temperatures and averages over several days. Updated daily, you can zero in on specific location and right click that location to reveal more information. In this example, using the menu at left and selecting ‘Climate shift index’ for December 04, 2024, the temperature in Oamaru was warmer than average, made 3x more likely by climate change.
The menu offers other options including absolute temperature and anomalies over several days or a single day. The tool, updated daily, is used by on-air weather forecasters.
Wind, waves, currents, temperatures, aerosol concentrations:
Earth NullSchool
Very versatile tool to check ocean and atmospheric conditions. Click image to be taken to the website, then click the ‘earth’ button on the bottom left corner to open the data box. “Forecast by supercomputers updated every three hours; ocean surface current estimates updated every day; ocean surface temperatures and anomaly from daily average (1981-2011) updated daily; ocean waves updated every three hours”.
In this screen shot, taken at 5pm 09 January, 2025, ‘Wind’, Air’, ‘Sfc (surface)’ were selected. Mouse-clicked Cook Straight (shows up as a green circle) opened a second smaller popup window showing the location (Lat. & Long) wind direction (140°) and speed (30kph).
Zoom in to explore the multiple options including very localised sea surface temperatures and currents, or zoom out to a world map, to, for example, track cyclones/hurricanes forming, their wind speeds and direction of travel.
Satellite data – NASA Worldview
Click the screen shot to be taken to the NASA website. The screen shot was taken the same date as the image, 27 December, 2024. Zoom in for more details over different days. Spend a bit of time to discover what’s available, such as floodwaters, atmospheric rivers, or wildfires.
NOTE: May take considerable time to load (and reload as you zoom in or change layers), especially if you have slow Internet. Be patient.
Satellite data – European Space Agency/Copernicus
Satellite data methane – European Space Agency/Copernicus
Click the screen shots to be taken to the website. Versatile tool. Free access to satellite data, updated regularly, often less than a day, and a comprehensive ‘how to use’ manual. No need to log in, but if you set up a free account, it’s useful if you want to keep layers.
The top screen shot was taken the same date as the image, 10 January, 2025. Select the drop menu at left to add layers.
In the second screen shot the layer ‘Atmospheric and Air Pollution/methane’ was selected.
Natural Hazards Portal:The Natural Hazards Commission (formally EQC)
Check before you buy: Click screen shot to be taken to online portal where you can learn how to use the mapping tool.
Once on their portal, insert the address of any property across Aotearoa
to find out what previous natural hazard claims have been settled.
This image is a composite of screen shots taken January 2025, showing an address (blurred for privacy reasons) in Christchurch. The ‘claims’ pictured reflect the 2010-2016 Canterbury and Kaikoura earthquakes. Claims in other locations may include landslips, flooding, and coastal erosion. Clicking on ‘More Information’ in the green bar at the bottom of the dialogue box provides more details. NOTE: these are PAST claims that have been settled by the date shown in the pop-out box; in this example, as of 29 November 2024. It does NOT project possible future events but it offers an insight into hazards.
Natural Hazards Portal: Waimakariri District Council
Click the screen shot to be taken to online portal where you can learn how to use the mapping tool for the Waimakariri District.
This screen shot shows the risk of flooding. You can zoom in to specific addresses and choose different dates and potential levels of flood risk. Choose the menu at the top of the screen to view different hazards such as fault and ruptures.
NOTE: the ‘coastal erosion’ maps are out of date. The modelling for this was undertaken prior to vertical land movement assessments and now outdated rates of sea level rise. This gives a potentially false impression that the coast will grow seaward. While some existing dunes may become isolated barrier islands, large areas will be drowned. See this webpage for more details.
For more accurate coastal changes, see the SeaRise and NIWA maps under the COASTS and OCEAN section below.
High Intensity Rainfall Design System V4 (HIRDs): NIWA
Click either of the screen shots to be taken to the online portal where you can learn how to use the HIRDs tool. You can zoom in to locations on the map or type in an address, a site name, or a site ID to look at rainfall records. ‘Generate report’ creates a choice of spreadsheets: depth or intensity. Click both of you want both.
In this example, Round Hill, which is behind Colac Bay / Oraka, west of Riverton, Southand, was selected.
Knowing past rainfall patterns (depth and intensity) may be a useful guide to future rainfall, however it’s important to note that extreme rainfall events are increasing, so while this is a guide, we are now living in a new climate regime, one that will continue to change.
Canterbury – river and rainfall data: Environment Canterbury
Drought forecasting dashboard: NIWA
Click the screen shot to be taken to the online forecasting tool. This screen shot shows the average rainfall, rainfall anomaly, and observed rainfall, 26 December 2024 – 10 January 2025; rainfall being one indicator of potential drought conditions. The other options in the top and left menus, such as soil moisture anomaly, also help with forecasting.
Geology: GNS
Click to be taken to the website then select the desired layer to add to the + menu at top left, and click the Legend.
NOTE: these layers may take considerable time to load (and reload as you zoom in), especially if you have slow Internet. Be very patient.
Once on the site, select the desired layer to add to the + menu at top left, and click Layer Legend. This screen grab is of the ‘NZ Geology layer’ to illustrates how recent the Canterbury Plains was formed (dark yellow) and the sediment laid down by the braided rivers (light yellow) before they were confined by stopbanks. Other layers that can be added to the drop menu include seismic faults and landslips.
Use the Search Qmap Reports button at the top right to reveal publications associated with a particular query; e.g. try ‘Geology Canterbury’
Integrated land typing tool: Lucas Associates
Screen grab of the opening page of the maps. Click to be taken to the website, zoom in, and click on a land type to open a comprehensive PDF with detailed explanations and nuances, 2D and 3D diagrams, incorporating data digitised from reports prepared for councils, and using geomorphological boundaries, slope analysis, vegetation patterns, and wetland delineations to offer detailed insights into landform components.
“We are gradually digitising and compiling land types from all across Aotearoa New Zealand. The data has been made publicly available and is still in development, so you may notice changes within it from time to time.
“For best viewing, we recommend using this in Google Chrome on desktop. There’s a lot of data that powers this app, so please be patient with load time. Zoom in to your location of interest, see the different land types at a large scale or drill down into the detail of landform components. Click on a location to find out more information including models and charts.”
Ecosystem reconstruction: Eco-Index/Navigator X
Ecosystem reconstruction is a specific kind of ecological restoration where native ecosystems are rebuilt from scratch. Click on the screen shot to be taken to the Eco-index map, developed to help people interested in undertaking ecosystem reconstruction. Navigator X uses a “heat map” approach to show the best bang-for-buck
locations to undertake ecosystem reconstruction, based on different priorities.
Glacier fluctuations: World Glacier Monitoring Service
Aoteaora has around 3,000 glaciers, most in the Southern Alps. NIWA started surveying glaciers in 1977, and has carried out aerial surveys of over 50 of the South Island’s glaciers every year for more than 40 years. Our glaciers are thinning seven times faster now than 20 years ago. This has huge implications for river flows, flood risks, ecosystems, and electricity generation.
New Zealand’s estimated ice volume in 2020 has reduced to 34.60 km3, which is 65% of the 1978 volume. – NIWA, 2022
These two screen shots above shows the survey data of New Zealand glaciers (orange dots top image). Franz Josef glacier as an example in the bottom image. Click on either to be taken to the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), then either type in a name to search, or zoom in on specific locations. In the second image of Franz Josef, the orange dot shows there are 3 records. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to open up a dateset. Once there, you will need to scroll to the right to reveal all the available data for each glacier.
Oceans & Coasts
Sea surface temperatures 60°N-60°S: Copernicus ‘climate pulse’
Click the screen grab taken 06 January 2025 to open the online portal.
1. Select air temperatures or sea temperature
2. Select either ‘Absolute value‘ (this image) or ‘Anomalies’
3. Select different dates or a range of dates to see trends.
Ocean temperatures: Climate Central ‘climate shift index’
Click the screen grab to be taken to the online portal. It contains variables that allow you to see daily temperatures and averages over several days. Updated daily, you can zero in on specific location and right click that location to reveal a breakout box containing more information.
In this
example, using the menu at left and selecting ‘Climate shift index: Ocean’ for
December 31, 2024, and clicking on ocean just off Kaitorete Spit, the breakout box shows water temperature was 1.1C hotter than normal for this date,
made at least 4 times more likely by climate change.
Keeping an eye on this mapping tool can also provide, for example, clues to the behaviour of ENSO or potential ocean heat in the tropical waters that can lead to the formation of cyclones.
New Zealand marine heatwave forecast: Moana Project
Composite screen shots of the Moana Project forecasting tool for marine heatwaves in New Zealand, taken 12 January, 2024. Not an interactive tool but you can get involved to help gather more data to improve the finer details and help map the trends.
Oceans: sea ice extent today: Arctic and Antarctic – NSIDC
The importance of sea ice in the Arctic and around Antarctica cannot be over-estimated. Losing sea ice is leading to accelerating temperatures, is allowing more warm water to reach ice shelves thereby accelerating their melt, changing ocean currents, and collapsing ecosystems. Click on the image to be taken to the website.
This composite screen shot of both Arctic and Antarctic was taken 11 January 2025 (NZ Time). Click the image to be taken to the website, “which is updated daily, with a one-day lag. On occasion, there is data delay which is usually resolved within a few days. The orange line in extent and concentration images (left and middle) and the gray line in the time series (right) indicate 1981 to 2010 average extent for the day shown.”
The graph also includes summary trends for selected earlier years, for comparison. Learn more about how to interpret the data and any known issues.
Coasts – change rates 1938 -2023: The University of Auckland
Click to be taken to online portal, which shows how coastal areas have changed during the years 1938-2023. The exact date range varies from place-to-place. In this screen shot, a West Coast location was selected (white dot with red ring). The dialogue box that opened shows that only three measurements were made at this location between 1965-2017.
Note: this tool shows past trends. It does not
project possible future changes as the past is no longer a good guide to the future. Rather, it it serves as a useful indicator of change. See their website for a full explanation.
Coasts – vertical land movement (VLM): NZ SeaRise
Sea levels rise and fall for multiple reasons outlined on this website. The NZSeaRise tool projects (not predicts) a range of sea level rise around Aotearoa depending on different scenarios, including possible abrupt ice sheet collapses. Click on the image to be taken to the website, go to the menu, and select ‘maps’.
This tool has the option of including vertical land movement (VLM) projections for 2km-spaced sites, updated in 2024 following an improvement to the spatial averaging method used to integrate the GNSS and InSAR time-series. This because in some locations, the land is sinking, and elsewhere it’s rising. The faster it sinks, the sooner the effects of rising sea levels are felt.
In this January 2025 composite screen shot, the variable VLM along the Dunedin coastline illustrates the different rates of VLM over short distances. Negative VLM (blue dots) means the land is falling relative to sea levels. This compounds the effect of rising sea levels.
NOTE: The SeaRise website notes that VLM and other factors that have been assessed locally should be prioritised. For example, VLM across the Ōtautahi Christchurch coastline was revised in May 2024. This is not necessarily reflected in the SeaRise VLM figures for this area.
“The NZSeaRise projections will be periodically updated to incorporate new information that has been robustly assessed, peer-reviewed and published, in order to provide the latest and best information for coastal risk assessments.”
Caveat: this may depend on funding as the current National-led Government has cut back on overall climate research funding.
Coasts – projected sea level rise: NZ SeaRise
Sea levels rise and fall for multiple reasons outlined on this website. The NZSeaRise tool projects (not predicts) a range of sea level rise depending on different scenarios including possible abrupt ice sheet collapses. Click on the image to be taken to the website, go to the menu, and select ‘maps’.
This image is a composite of screen shots of four possible sea level rise scenarios for the coast off Pegasus, north of Christchurch, on site number #4298, including the effects of vertical land movement. When using the online map, these four time scenarios (2050, 2100, 2200, and 2300) are displayed individually.
There are multiple options for choosing different scenarios. In this example, the ‘worst case’ scenarios have been selected for the following reason:
If the risk is underestimated, the consequences will be severe with lasting social, cultural and economic effects. If the risk is overestimated for a specific timeframe, using relative sea-level rise projections based on higher emission scenarios, this will be temporary (decade to multi-decadal timescales). This is because sea level will continue to rise, even as emissions are reduced, and it is only a matter of time before the adaptation threshold is reached for those exposed to the risk. – Coastal hazards and climate change guidance, MfE, 2024 [emphasis theirs].
Note: this is a ‘bathtub tool’. It does not factor in the compounding effects of coastal geomorphological processes (erosion, deposition, cliff collapse) or built structures (sea walls, groins etc.). The terms ‘low confidence’ is due to uncertainty about the speed and scale of ice sheet collapse.
Subsequent to the last NZSeaRise update:
A compelling number of new studies, taking into account ice dynamics, paleo-climate records from Earth’s past and recent observations of ice sheet behavior point to thresholds for both Greenland and parts of Antarctica well below 2.2°C. Many ice sheet scientists now believe that exceeding even 1.5°C will be sufficient to melt large parts of Greenland and West Antarctica, and potentially vulnerable portions of East Antarctica; generating inexorable sea-level rise that exceeds 10 meters in the coming centuries, even if air temperatures are later decreased. The pace of this long-term, unstoppable sea-level rise will pose major long-term persistent challenges for all coastal regions; and result in widespread loss and damage of critical infrastructure. – State of the Cryosphere, November 2024
“The NZSeaRise projections will be
periodically updated to incorporate new information that has been
robustly assessed, peer-reviewed and published, in order to provide the
latest and best information for coastal risk assessments.”
Caveat: this may depend on funding as the current National-led Government has cut back on overall climate research funding.
Coasts – flood layers viewer: NIWA
This screen shot of the NIWA flood layers tool enables users to visualise the effect of a 1% annual exceedance probability (AEP) extreme sea level flooding under current climatic sea conditions PLUS the effects as sea levels rise above present-day mean sea level.
In this example, before using this tool, the effects of VLM was checked using the SeaRise tool, for Pines Beach (the middle of this coastal stretch) where VLM was assessed at being -1.7mm/yr. This figure was inserted into the calculator shown on the right of the screen shot, under ‘Choose vertical land motion’, using the ‘worst case’ sea level rise scenario (SSP5-8/5H highest percentile) by 2075. This shows that under these circumstances, sea levels could be 90cm higher than they were in 2005, and if so, in the event of an extreme flood, the yellow area indicates what could be inundated.
NOTE: Using the SeaRise tool before using this tool shows the effect of VLM across the length of this coast varies from -1.3mm/yr (Marshlands) to -0.3mm/yr (Saltwater Creek), with the area around Kaiapoi/Pines Beach being the worst (-1.7mm/yr.), selected because water will naturally flow behind the dunes at the lowest, not highest points. This illustrates the range of variables that should be considered when using these tools.
Coasts – hazards portal: Christchurch City Council
Click the screen shot be taken to the Christchurch Coastal Hazards online portal.
In this example, a conservative sea level rise of 20cm by 2050 was selected. The blue shaded areas show what areas could be flooded and the different depths if a ‘rare flooding’ event should occur. It’s important to keep in mind that what were once ‘rare’ flood events are now happening more frequently. Flooding can also damage roads, bridge, and damage infrastructure including water mains and sewerage systems, so ‘shallow’ floods can present major problems.
This is just one of a range of possible scenarios. Others (top left of screen) include erosion and groundwater.
Note that it is based on 2017 static flood layers, uses conservative estimates of sea level rise, and does not include the cascading compounding effects of multiple hazards such as erosion or storm surges, as these are stochastic events.
If the risk is underestimated, the consequences will be severe with lasting social, cultural and economic effects. If the risk is overestimated for a specific timeframe, using relative sea-level rise projections based on higher emission scenarios, this will be temporary (decade to multi-decadal timescales). This is because sea level will continue to rise, even as emissions are reduced, and it is only a matter of time before the adaptation threshold is reached for those exposed to therisk. – Coastal hazards and climate change guidance, MfE, 2024 [emphasis theirs].
A compelling number of new studies, taking into account ice dynamics, paleo-climate records from Earth’s past and recent observations of ice sheet behavior point to thresholds for both Greenland and parts of Antarctica well below 2.2°C. Many ice sheet scientists now believe that exceeding even 1.5°C will be sufficient to melt large parts of Greenland and West Antarctica, and potentially vulnerable portions of East Antarctica; generating inexorable sea-level rise that exceeds 10 meters in the coming centuries, even if air temperatures are later decreased. The pace of this long-term, unstoppable sea-level rise will pose major long-term persistent challenges for all coastal regions; and result in widespread loss and damage of critical infrastructure. – State of the Cryosphere, November 2024
Coasts – storm surge: The University of Auckland
Low pressure weather systems quite literally reduce pressure on the surface of the water, enabling the water to lift above ‘normal’ sea levels, as much as several metres. When combined with onshore winds and a high tide, large volumes of water can surge inland.
Click on the screen shot above to be taken to the website, then click on a single dot to bring up a time series. This screen shot is a data-point off the coast of Invercargill. It indicates little changes in the incidence or height of storm surges over the next 100 years, although it could reach 0.4m – 0.6m at different times.
As the climate changes, ocean currents and waves are also changing, so this projection may also change in the future. This also needs to be considered in the context of tides, where a high tide may coincide with a storm. NIWA publish ‘red tide’ days on their website.
Coasts – wave data tool: The University of Auckland
Click on the screengrab to be taken to the site. No idea how this works; included here as a matter of reference. Recommend contacting one of the authors of their research paper. see
Return to ‘maps menu’ this page also https://coastalhub.science/data
Landslides – GNS
Screen shot of the southern coastal area of Banks Peninsula. The red outlined area shows a potential landslide area.
This database is dated; missing recent major and minor landslips, so is of very limited value. It is included here as a matter of interest. A recent (October 2024) Landslide Planning Tool is available on the GNS website.