Ocean acidification conditions around the New Zealand coast are being measured to establish baseline conditions and to quantify future change. The NZOA-ON is a network of coastal sites around the country – a mix of pristine and urban sites, and sites which are of particular interest to regional councils, the aquaculture and fishing industries, and sites of scientific interest. Data will be used to determine local conditions, and to provide a baseline against which to measure future change. This network is linked into the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON The network uses existing data collection infrastructure where possible to take advantage of auxiliary data and historic records. Sampling partners collect fortnightly water samples, liaise regarding shipment and logistics, and assist with deployment of the sensors. Sampling partners collecting the water samples, possibly as part of existing monitoring programmes, have access to the data to help them with their own management strategies. Sampling partners include regional councils, the Department of Conservation, and aquaculture industries. Water samples are taken fortnightly at each site (see Figure 1 for the sampling sites) by the sampling partners, then the full crates are returned to Dunedin for analysis of acidity parameters - alkalinity and total dissolved inorganic carbon (to develop a long-term data series). We then calculate pHT, pCO2, carbonate ion concentration, and saturation states. NIWA provides sampling partners with bottles, crates, chemically resistant gloves and training (including health and safety information). The actual sampling isn’t difficult, however sampling partners are required to use a droplet bottle to add a couple of drops of mercuric chloride (which is toxic) into the full sample bottles, so that the seawater is ‘preserved’ until it gets to the lab. SeaFET pH sensors[2] are deployed for 4-5 months at each site, and are moved from site to site to help determine short term variability at each location. Additional parameters are measured at the Dunedin and Firth of Thames sites, so that these sites meet the extra requirements of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON). The network uses data collection infrastructure where possible to take advantage of auxiliary data and historic records.

This data collection contains observations from CTD sensors attached fisheries trawls deployed by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and funded by the Ministry of Primary Industries. Data was sourced from SeaBird MircoCAT SBE 37 instruments which were attached to the headlines of trawl nets as part of fisheries research programs. The data is processed using the SBE Data Processing software and only the downcast of the cast is retained (because of the turbulence of the water generated by the trawl gear once the trawl is underway. Measured variables are temperature, depth, and salinity. The sensors on the CTD are all regularly calibrated by the manufacturer, but data are not calibrated in-situ.

Gravel percentage of seafloor sediments from the New Zealand region from nzSEABED database. Data or descriptions of gravel content are from the top 10 cm of the seafloor. Gravel is defined by its texture/grainsize (all sediment <2mm) and does not reflect the composition of the seafloor sediment.

Using seafloor image data to build single-taxon and community distribution models for seabed fauna in New Zealand waters. Understanding the spatial distributions of seabed biodiversity is essential for effective management of the effects of human activities. However, existing knowledge of seabed faunal distributions comes overwhelmingly from records of museum specimens and fisheries and research trawl bycatch. Data from such sources have been used to build models that predict species and community distributions on the basis of correlations with environmental gradients but because these models are based on presence-only data from disparate sources and times, their predictions are considered uncertain. To improve understanding of seabed fauna distributions around New Zealand, we are developing a new database of occurrences and population densities based entirely on quantitative data from seabed photographic surveys designed to sample these fauna. By modelling the spatial relationships between taxon occurrences and environmental gradients across the region, we are able to predict the likelihood of individual taxa and communities being present in as-yet unsampled areas. In the first phase of the project, we concentrated on Chatham Rise; a region of high importance to commercial fisheries and with the highest density of existing seabed imagery. The models developed here were the first abundance-based models of benthic distributions in the New Zealand region at these spatial scales. In the second phase, we expanded the domain of the predictive models to encompass Campbell Plateau, in the south-eastern sector the EEZ. Combining data from Chatham Rise and Campbell Plateau in a single dataset of benthic invertebrate taxon occurrences and population densities enabled development of up-dated predictive distribution models for a range of individual invertebrate taxa, as well as models of the spatial variability in overall community composition. Rasters are in a geotiff format at a 1000 m resolution cell size and have their relevant projections written in their files.

The aspect of the bathymetry dataset from the Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui and Tory Channel / Kura Te Au Hydrographic Survey LINZ Project HYD-2016/17-01 (HS51). Aspect identifies the downslope direction of the maximum rate of change in value from each cell to its neighbors. It can be thought of as the slope direction. The values of each cell in the output raster indicate the compass direction that the surface faces at that location. It is measured clockwise in degrees from 0 (due north) to 360 (again due north), coming full circle. Flat areas having no downslope direction are given a value of -1. These data are in raster geotiff format and include ESRI layer files and QGIS GML files for symbology.

Sand percentage of seafloor sediments from the New Zealand region from nzSEABED database. Data or descriptions of sand content are from the top 10 cm of the seafloor. Sand is defined by its texture/grainsize (all sediment 63μm-2mm) and does not reflect the composition of the seafloor sediment.

Geochemical data set comprising of major and trace element analyses of phosphorite nodules from deposits located around offshore New Zealand.

Classification of the benthic environment using bathymetric data from the Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui and Tory Channel / Kura Te Au Hydrographic Survey LINZ Project HYD-2016/17-01 (HS51). Generated using Benthic Terrain Modeller (BTM) ArcGIS extension.Wright, D.J., Pendleton, M., Boulware, J., Walbridge, S., Gerlt, B., Eslinger, D., Sampson, D., and Huntley, E. 2012. ArcGIS Benthic Terrain Modeler (BTM), v. 3.0, Environmental Systems Research Institute, NOAA Coastal Services Center, Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management. Available online at http://esriurl.com/5754. These data are in raster geotiff format and include ESRI layer files and QGIS GML files for symbology.

Mud percentage of seafloor sediments from the New Zealand region from nzSEABED database. Data or descriptions of mud content are from the top 10 cm of the seafloor. Mud is defined by its texture/grainsize (all sediment <63μm) and does not reflect the composition of the seafloor sediment.

This dataset is part of the IMOS Underway CO2 Measurements group. This group is a research and data collection project working within the IMOS Ship of Opportunity Multi-Disciplinary Underway Network sub-facility. The CO2 group sample critical regions of the Southern Ocean, Australian and the New Zealand shelf waters, which have a major impact on CO2 uptake by the ocean. These are regions where biogeochemical cycling is predicted to be particularly sensitive to a changing climate. The pCO2 Underway System measures the fugacity of carbon dioxide (fCO2) along with other variables such as sea surface salinity (SSS) and sea surface temperature (SST) using an automated system. The RV Tangaroa provides data on surface ocean CO2 for the oceans adjacent to New Zealand.