Measuring Land Changes & Insect Survival Rates

Date: 8 July 2008

As an environmental research company, Landcare Research is always exploring new ways of building models that describe the way the environment behaves. Many of these models depend heavily on spatial data or have spatial relationships as a core component. Landcare's offices are widely spread across New Zealand and its scientists often collaborate with scientists from other Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) and overseas, so management of spatial datasets that are widely distributed across many sites important to Landcare's spatial data strategy. Landcare has had to implement many of the technologies that are core to distributed Geographic Information Systems (GIS) internally, and so it is natural that they are leaders in distributed GIS in New Zealand.

A few examples of recent application illustrate the diversity and complexity of Landcare's use of geospatial information:

Modelling slip scars

After the February 2004 floods in the lower North Island, Landcare researchers developed a model for identifying slip scars that was used to create a map of the percentage of damage for every hectare throughout the region. The model depended on satellite imagery from multiple dates, a 15m digital elevation model created in-house to ensure that it had appropriate aspect and slope characteristics, a sun illumination correction algorithm and field work to check the results.

National nitrate leaching model

Working with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), Landcare soil scientists are developing a national nitrate leaching model that has produced a first estimate of nitrate leaching risk for the whole country. Data requirements included land use distinguishing many different farm types, climate surfaces and soil data surfaces, and a detailed understanding of how nitrate moves through the soil profile and into waterways.

Insect survival

Working with the Department of Conservation and MAF, Landcare researchers are developing a model that predicts the likelihood of various insects surviving in New Zealand. The model analyses the insect's native environment and areas where it has successfully established overseas and compares it with New Zealand's environment, to produce a risk of survival in New Zealand. Data for this model includes worldwide climate, vegetation, soil and insect distribution observations, albeit at relatively low spatial resolution and high resolution equivalent information for New Zealand.

Antarctic data gathering

Working in collaboration, Antarctica New Zealand, Gateway Antarctica (Canterbury University), Land Information New Zealand, United States Geological Service, GNS Science and NIWA are establishing a distributed Antarctic GIS portal. This contains data gathered by scientists primarily in the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica that is expected to be a test bed for collaborative GIS in New Zealand. The portal will help data-sharing among scientists and also become a core part of the management of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Specially Protected Area.