Index of New Zealand Geospatial Data

Geospatial information can be as diverse and varied as the uses it may be put to. Here you can find websites that provide geospatial information for New Zealand and examples of its applied use. Included are sources of raw data, image archives, interactive applications and more. Websites are sorted by subject and listed alphabetically.

This is not an exhaustive compilation. If you have a suggestion for a subject category or website to be listed, contact us.

For more information on utilising geospatial data, check out blogs on using geospatial information.

Note: * indicates payment is required to access data.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Addresses

Address ranges (Statistics New Zealand)
Address ranges linked to meshblocks, area units, and other geographic areas commonly used by Statistics New Zealand.

NationalMap3 (Critchlow)
Searchable database of address ranges for all roads within urban areas and find registered RAPID and rural addresses outside these areas.

New Zealand Address Register (Terralink)
Allows citizens to confirm and update their address information to aid Emergency Services in locating properties.

Yellow Pages
Search for businesses by category or location. Also access the White Pages to search for people and businesses by name.

Administrative & political boundaries

Digital boundaries (Statistics New Zealand)
Meshblock (MB), area unit (AU), urban area (UA), territorial authorities (TA), regional council (RC), wards, General (GED07) and Māori (MED07) electoral districts.

Boundaries and administration (Koordinates)
Map layers including councils, school zones, district health boards and electoral districts.

Department of Conservation (DOC) Spatial Information Portal
Includes DOC and New Zealand administration boundaries.

Inventory of New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Emissions - 2001 (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Includes a Territorial Local Authority boundary map.

Local Councils New Zealand
Information on local councils, including a regional map.

NationalMap3
Searchable database of territorial authority, regional and suburb boundaries; meshblock and area units as well as postcode areas, electoral boundaries and wards.

Aerial photography & orthophotography

Aerial and satellite photography* (Koordinates)
Some imagery requires payment to download.

Archway (Archives New Zealand)
Database of Crown records, including Crown aerial photographs.

Department of Conservation (DOC) Spatial Information Portal
Includes 2.5m orthophotos.

GNS airphoto holdings (GNS Science)

KiwiImage (all of Government Imagery Project)
Government project to capture accurate, high resolution imagery of New Zealand and the Offshore Islands.

New Zealand Aerial Mapping Limited (NZAM)
NZAM also manage the Crown Aerial Film Negative Collection.

New Zealand and Antarctic orthophotos (Land Information New Zealand)
Orthophotos of New Zealand and the Darwin Glacier region of Antarctica.

Agriculture

Agribase (AsureQuality)
First developed in 1993 for the management of properties susceptible to foot and mouth disease, the AgriBase™ database holds information on all types of rural properties.

Agriculture Census tables (2007) (Statistics New Zealand)
Type of farm, livestock numbers, grain and arable, horticulture, land use and forestry.

Air quality

Environmental Data Explorer New Zealand (EDENZ) (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)

Air travel

How far can I go? (Air New Zealand)
Plots possible domestic and international destinations in relation to budget.

B

Bathymetry

Coastal Bathymetry / Sediment (NIWA)
Bathymetric Charts that cover coastal New Zealand and many offshore areas. A sediment edition illustrates the nature of the bottom type (rock, sand, gravel, and so on).

Oceanic Bathymetry / Sediment (NIWA)
A series of oceanic charts illustrate the large scale features of the New Zealand region, particularly those offshore in deeper water. Some areas also have a sediment edition.

Lake Bathymetry (NIWA)
Lake chart for every lake in New Zealand that can be surveyed, except for Lake Dunstan. The charts are of various scales that are determined to be the most appropriate for the size of the lake.

Island Bathymetry (NIWA)
Island charts include islands in the New Zealand territory and beyond.

NIWA Miscellaneous Charts (NIWA)
NIWAs miscellaneous charts include a range of bathymetric charts of areas of special interest around New Zealand. These include many of the Sounds of Fiordland, New Zealand Island Territories, and the Marlborough Sounds. They also produce a range of sediment charts, such as Manukau and Waitemata Harbours, Rangaunu Harbour, and Wellington South Coast. Some charts of various scales are also available that show the entire New Zealand region. There are more than 70 charts in the miscellaneous series.

Beaches

See coast.

Biodiversity

Also see environment & conservation.

Freshwater Biodata Information System (FBIS) (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Contains data and metadata on fish, algae, aquatic plant and invertebrate species found in New Zealand freshwater streams, rivers and lakes.

National Aquaitc Biodiversity Information System (NABIS) (Ministry of Fisheries)
Includes maps describing marine species distribution, reserves and restricted areas.

Wildlife Tracker
A citizen science project to track wildlife in Kenya

Boating

Boat ramps
Displays the locations of boat ramps nationwide.

Boundaries

See administrative & political boundaries.

Broadband

Broadband Map (State Services Commission)
Shows demand and supply for broadband networks in New Zealand.

Bus

See Public transport

Businesses

Numbers of businesses (Statistics New Zealand)
Number of businesses by industry

C

Carbon accounting

Land Use and Carbon Analysis System (Ministry for the Environment)
The Land Use and Carbon Analysis System (LUCAS) tracks and quantifies changes in New Zealand land use.

Census

Census Interactive Boundary Maps (2006)
Search or drill down as far as meshblock level to see some related census information.

Census Meshblock Dataset (2006) (Statistics New Zealand)
An extensive range of census information about people, households and families. Also provided at area unit, territorial authority and regional council level.

Census and statistics (Koordinates)
Map layers including urban areas, area units and meshblocks.

Census QuickStats About a Place (2006)
Commentary, graphs and tables covering age, sex, education, work, income, internet access, transport and more. At area unit level and above.

VisualCensus (Critchlow)
Census boundary maps including territorial authority, regional council and area unit boundaries.

Charts

Chart images (Land Information New Zealand)
High resolution TIFF and low resolution JPEG scans of paper charts.

Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) (Land Information New Zealand)
Official ENCs for New Zealand waters.

Raster Navigational Charts (RNCs)—NZMariner (Land Information New Zealand)
New Zealand's official RNC folio.

Climate

Climate Explorer* (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Interactive map for ordering climate information products (eg datasets and maps).

Environment Canterbury rainfall records
Environment Canterbury records rainfall at 72 sites throughout Canterbury. River reports and flood warning information is also available.

Environmental Data Explorer New Zealand (EDENZ) (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)

MetService
Includes forecasts, rain radar, weather maps and marine and mountain weather information.

MetVUW
Includes satellite imagery, weather radar, upper air data, forest charts and forecasts.

The National Climate Database (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Includes historical and current climate data.

Cloud cover

Cloud imagery products* (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Low resolution imagery is provided free of charge, with high resolution imagery available at a charge.

Coal

Coal technical data (Ministry of Economic Development)
Crown Minerals technical data on coal.

Coast

Cam-Era (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Regularly updated photographs of coastal areas.

Coastal Explorer (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Interactive map for locating types of coastal environments.

Environment Canterbury beach cams
Beach cameras for Canturbury.

National Aquaitc Biodiversity Information System (NABIS) (Ministry of Fisheries)
Includes maps describing the New Zealand coastline, marine environment and bathymetry.

Conservation

See environment & conservation.

Contours

See topography.

Councils

Councils A-Z (Local Councils New Zealand)
Contacts for local councils, who hold a range of spatial information for their area.

D

Deforestation

See Environment & Conservation.

Development indicators

Gapminder World
Interactive tool for visualising development datasets for New Zealand and the rest of the world.

Directory services

Wises
Search engine for amenities, leisure activities, dining, travel and accommodation.

Zenbu
Open source search engine for places, products and services.

E

Earthquakes

Earthquake resources (GeoNet)
Earthquake related data resources and tools.

Environment & conservation

Department of Conservation (DOC) Geoportal
Provides access to layers for DOC tracks, conservancy boundaries, area boundaries and public conservation areas

Department of Conservation (DOC) Spatial Information Portal
Includes general biodiversity, terrestrial, freshwater, marine and ecology information.

Deforestation in Sumatra
This file looks at deforestation in the region to show nature reserves along with their rates of deforestation and at the general land cover in the form of data overlays

Environment Canterbury GIS mapping
Environment Canterbury online GIS mapping application and data.

Environment Canterbury groundwater allocation zone map
Groundwater allocation map for Canterbury.

Environment Canterbury groundwater levels
Groundwater levels for sites in Canterbury.

Environmental Data Explorer New Zealand (EDENZ) (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Data on river flow, sea level, climate and air quality.

Land Environments of New Zealand (LENZ) (Landcare Research)
Classification framework for identifying climatic and landform factors likely to influence species distribution.

Science and environment (Koordinates)
Map layers including landcover, soil, marine and geological features.

F

Farming

See Agriculture.

Fault lines

New Zealand Active Faults Database (GNS Science)

Fire

Fire weather (National Rural Fire Authority)
Includes daily updated fire danger maps and monthly severity comparisons.

Fisheries

Atlas of freshwater fisheries (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)

National Aquaitc Biodiversity Information System (NABIS) (Ministry of Fisheries)
Includes maps describing marine species distribution, lakes, rivers, reserves and restricted areas.

Flights

See air travel.

Forestry

Science and environment (Koordinates)
Map layers including land cover and forests.

Fossils

Fossil Record Electronic Database (FRED) (GNS Science)
Fossil localities in New Zealand and nearby regions, including South East Pacific Islands and the Ross Sea region of Antarctica.

G

Genocide

Crisis in Darfur
Maps the extent of the extent of the destruction and genocide in Darfur.

Geodesy

See survey.

Geological hazards

GeoNet
Information, data resources and tools on earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides and tsunamis.

Geology

CityMap Manukau (GNS Science)
Map displaying Manukau City's surface distribution of rock types and vulnerability to volcanic, earthquake and mass movement hazards.

Geological Map of New Zealand (GNS Science)
Includes photographs and text details on New Zealand geology.

Geophysical Network (GeoNet)
Interactive map displaying the locations of GeoNet's Continuous GPS network, Seismograph sites and Strong Motion Detection sites.

New Zealand stratigraphic lexicon (GNS Science)
Provides precise definitions of units of rock and periods of geological time.

Glaciers

Central South Island glacial geomorphology (GNS Science)

Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

GPS Data (GeoNet)
Includes GPS RINEX files, a time series of GPS station positions and site information.

New Zealand Open GPS Maps Project
Open source Garmin compatible GPS street maps.

PositioNZ (Land Information New Zealand)
Includes GPS RINEX files, a time series of GPS station positions and site information.

Gravity

New Zealand Gravity Station Network (GNS Science)

H

Human Rights/social (in)justice/Humanitarian Crises

Ushahidi
A plaform for information collection, visualization and interactive mapping - used in various projects and countries around the world, including Chili, Eastern Congo, and Haiti.

World is Witness
Maps crimes against humanity around the world

I

J

K

L

Lakes

Lake Submerged Plant Indicators (LakeSPI) (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Monitoring of submerged lake plants.

Land cover

The New Zealand Land Cover Database (Ministry for the Environment)
A digital map of the land surface of the country.

Land Resources Information System portal (Landcare Research)
The information available includes records from the New Zealand land resource inventory, data underpinning the land environments NZ (LENZ) data set, fundamental soils layers, regional soil databases and digital elevation models.

Landslides

Landslide resources (GeoNet)
Landslide related data resources and tools.

M

Magnetic fields

Magnetic Field of the Earth (GNS Science)
Includes declination maps and magnetic observatory data.

Minerals

Mineral Technical Data (Ministry of Economic Development)
Crown Minerals technical data on minerals.

MinMap (GNS Science)
Includes locations of mineral deposits and exploration drill holes.

Mountain Biking

Tracks
Provides a guide to tracks, primarily around mountain biking and trail running, including their status, e.g. under construction! Tracks was initially focused on the tracks around Wellington's many hills and green belts. Tracks has recently been expanded to look into all corners of New Zealand, stay tuned.

N

Navigation

See charts.

O

Orienteering

Orienteering Permanent Course Mount Victoria, Wellington

Orienteering Map Portal
Shows and makes recreational maps made in New Zealand available to the public and a place for the archive of old maps

Orthophotography

See aerial photography & orthophotography.

P

Petroleum

Petroleum Data Query (PDQ) Map (GNS Science)
Crown Minerals and GNS petroleum data aimed at oil exploration companies.

Petroleum technical data (Ministry of Economic Development)
Crown Minerals technical data on petroleum.

Place & street names

Electoral Streets and Places (Land Information New Zealand)
Includes a searchable database and downloadable dataset.

New Zealand Gazetteer of Official Geographic Names (Land Information New Zealand)
Includes official names for places and features in New Zealand, its offshore islands and Antarctica.

New Zealand Place Names Database (Archived) (Land Information New Zealand)
Includes a searchable database and downloadable dataset.

Piracy

Piracy Watch
Visualizes piracy incidents around the globe.

Pollution

Environment Canterbury high air pollution nights
Data on recent pollution levels and and historical views of when pollution levels have been high in the Canterbury region.

Population

Population estimates (Statistics New Zealand)
Estimated population by age group and sex. Down to area unit level.

Population projections (Statistics New Zealand)
Area unit population projections by age group and sex. Five yearly intervals out to 2031.

Public transport

Metlink
Timetables, maps, a journey planner, plus other information and tools for the greater Wellington public transport network.

Roads and transport (Koordinates)
Includes map layers indicating traffic lights, bus routes and stops, and railway tracks.

Where's my bus (Christchurch)
Real time ETA bus times to bus stops for Christchurch.

Q

R

Renewable energies

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority
Includes maps displaying averaged wave heights, wind speeds, sunlight hours and geothermal activity.

Rivers

Environmental Data Explorer New Zealand (EDENZ) (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Includes information on river flow.

Roads

InfoConnect (NZ Transport Authority)
Verified highway data, including webcam coverage, planned roadworks, unplanned road closures and delays, maps and holiday traffic information.

NationalMap3
Searchable database of major and minor roads as well as road assets, eg bridges and road surface types. Also contains data for a fully navigable transport network.

Roads and transport (Koordinates)
Includes map layers indicating traffic lights and road centrelines.

Traffic webcams (MetService)
Coverage in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

Running - trail

Rural Property

See Agriculture.

S

Sea level data (Land Information New Zealand)
Data from sites around New Zealand, offshore islands and Antarctica.

Sea surface temperature (SST)

SST analyses for standard areas* (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
For the New Zealand and East Coast of Australia regions. Updated daily (Monday to Friday).

SST analyses on private fixed areas* (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Areas are user-definable, anywhere in the South West Pacific region. Updated daily (Monday to Friday).

SST climatology* (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Mean monthly SSTs for New Zealand.

Monthly mean SST analyses and anomalies* (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Monthly mean SST analyses and their departures from expected values. Updated monthly.

Sea water quality

Surface Chlorophyll Analyses on Standard Areas* (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Includes composited chlorophyll shown as a colour image and an isochlor analysis of that image.

Marlborough Sounds Environmental Monitoring (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Includes weekly maps of chlorophyll a concentration, temperature and salinity for the Marlborough Sounds.

Sediment

See Bathymetry.

Ships

Live Ships Map
Tracks ships at sea.

Ski fields

Ski field reports (MetService)

Street maps

Also see - Census

Google Maps - New Zealand

New Zealand Open GPS Maps Project
Open source Garmin compatible Global Positioning System (GPS) street maps.

Street names

See place & street names.

Street views

Street view (Google)
Includes the ability to pan, rotate and zoom.

Surf

See waves.

Survey

Geodetic mark data (Land Information New Zealand)
Includes a simple list of geodetic marks and a complete geodetic mark dataset.

Geodetic software (Land Information New Zealand)
Windows compatible geodetic software.

Meridional Circuit shape files (Land Information New Zealand)
Can be imported to most GIS systems that use ESRI shape files.

Swimming

See water quality.

T

Terrain

See topography.

Tides

Lunar semidiurnal tide (M2) (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Animation of M2 tide movement around New Zealand.

Tide forecaster (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Predicts tides up to 28 days ahead, plus historical tides. Harbour and estuary tides not included.

Tidal streams (Land Information New Zealand)
Tidal streams for Te Aumiti (French Pass) and the Tory Channel entrance.

Tide predictions (Land Information New Zealand)
Includes standard and secondary port tide tables.

Topography

Antarctic Ross Sea region (Land Information New Zealand)
JPEG map image at 1:3 million scale.

Antarctic topographic data (Land Information New Zealand)
Vector topographic data for Antarctica's Darwin/Hatherton Glacier region.

Contours and terrain* (Koordinates)
Map layers of contour and terrain data. Some layers require payment to download.

Map Chooser (Land Information New Zealand)
Download official topographic maps of the New Zealand mainland and Chatham Islands at 1:250,000 and 1:50,000 scale in TIFF and GeoTIFF format.

New Zealand offshore islands (Land Information New Zealand)
JPEG map images at 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 scale.

New Zealand small scale topographic maps (Land Information New Zealand)
JPEG images at 1:1 million and 1:500,000 scale.

NZTopoOnline (Land Information New Zealand)
Seamless topographic mapping of New Zealand at 1:50,000 scale.

Pacific region topographic maps (Land Information New Zealand)
JPEG map images at 1:25,000 scale.

Traffic

See roads.

Trains

See Public Transport

Tsunami

Tsunami resources (GeoNet)
Tsunami related data resources and tools.

U

V

Volcanoes

Volcano resources (GeoNet)
Volcano related data resources and tools.

Visual and cameras (GeoNet)
Images from cameras monitoring volcanoes, including White Island.

Vegetation

National Vegetation Survey Databank
The National Vegetation Survey Databank (NVS - 'Nivs') is a physical archive and computer databank containing records from approximately 77,000 vegetation survey plots.

W

Water quality

Bathing water quality (Canterbury regional council)
Update weekly from mid-November to February/March. Includes marine and freshwater bathing areas.

Bathing water quality (Greater Wellington regional council)
Updated weekly from 1 November - 31 March. Includes marine and freshwater bathing areas.

Water Quality Information System (WQIS) New Zealand (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Data and metadata on a range of common water quality indicators for freshwater streams, rivers and lakes.

Water resources

Water Resources Explorer NZ (WRENZ)
Map displaying selected layers of water resource related spatial information.

Waves

Canterbury wave conditions (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Simulated wave heights across the Canterbury continental shelf and along the coast.

Swellmap
Forecasts swells near to shore and further out to sea.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Wavewatch III
Pacific region and international wave prediction models from the United States of America's NOAA.

Weather

See climate.

Wind farms

NZ wind farms (New Zealand Wind Energy Association)
Includes operating and proposed wind farm sites.

NEW ZEALAND GEOSPATIAL STRATEGY

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