Alice: an Instrumented Tripod

Alice is an instrument package for measuring boundary-layer and sediment-transport processes in estuaries and the ocean. The tripod sits on the seabed, unattended for the duration of the experiment. Alice is typically deployed and retrieved by helicopter and can be moved between sites underneath a small boat. Alice has been used successfully in environments ranging from intertidal mudflats to 40-m water depth on the open continental shelf.
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Benthic Ecology Video Information System (BEVIS)

BEVIS has been developed for rapid, cost-effective seafloor habitat surveys. Sled-borne cameras are monitored and controlled from the surface, affording investigation at depths where using divers to collect video data or macrobenthic cores would be impractical or impossible.
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Bruker Spectrometers

Our two Michelson interferometers are capable of measurements over a wide spectral range from the ultra-violet (UV) through the visible to the infra-red (IR) (from approximately 250 nm to 15 micron). In addition to their applicability for analysis of trace gases, they can also be used as laboratory tool to accurately measure absorption spectra at extremely high resolution.
Contact: Dr Stephen Wood [ s.wood@niwa.co.nz ]

Computerised Research Echo Sounder Technology (CREST)

CREST is a highly adaptable approach to fisheries and other acoustic data acquisition, using the concept of a "software echo sounder". Computer-based, it lets us combine acoustic data with navigational, environmental and other data as required.
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  FitzRoy supercomputer

To further NIWA’s scientific work, we purchased an IBM System p575 POWER6 supercomputer and custom data centre in 2010.
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Dissolved Inorganic Carbon Extraction System

NIWA’s TROPAC group has developed an automated system for extraction of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from sea water. The goal was to improve the consistency and reduce the processing time involved in making the corresponding ¹⁴C and ¹³C measurements for our own research projects. Others involved in marine carbon research have shown interest in this equipment and we now make, test and install additional systems to order.
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DOAS 2000 Open Path Monitoring System

Hazardous air pollutants present a more serious threat to human health and the surrounding environment than traditional ambient air pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, because their impacts tend to be wide-ranging and complex and their detection requires highly sophisticated techniques and equipment. NIWA’s DOAS 2000 open path monitoring system offers significant advantages over traditional point monitoring equipment for air quality measurements.
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DOBIE Wave Gauge

This unique wave gauge processes raw pressure data onboard to produce wave statistics and spectra in real time. Because data are analysed onboard, DOBIE can be used to trigger linked instruments or raise alarms at remote stations, based on the prevailing wave conditions. Applications include monitoring wave height and telemetering an alarm signal back to a civil defence office when waves first exceed dangerous heights, and sending wave information back to a shore station on a regular basis for rebroadcasting in a boating report.
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Ecohydraulics Flume

This artificial channel is adjustable over a wide range of hydraulic conditions and is designed specifically for biological, eco-hydraulic, and pure hydraulic research. It is believed to be the world’s only fully adjustable flume which has been set up for large-scale biological studies and also meets the stringent requirements for hydraulic modelling.
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Electrochemical Analyser

NIWA's DLK-100 Electrochemical Analyser is linked to a microelectrode that is prepared on-site using capillary glass, gold and mercury. By using standard voltammetric techniques, the concentration of redox-active species like oxygen, sulphide, iron and manganese can be determined in sediments. Of particular advantage is that the concentrations can be found at various depths without altering the physico-chemical properties of the sediment.
Contact: Dr Trevor Mathieson [ t.mathieson@niwa.co.nz ]

Fish Logger

The Fish Logger is a datalogging system linked electronically to sartorious balances. It can be used to measure large numbers of fish with minimal effort. All data are electronically loaded and can be uplifted from loggers via palmtop computers and immediately converted into Excel spreadsheets.
Contact: Josh Smith [ j.smith@niwa.co.nz ]

Flow Cytometer

The FACSCalibur flow cytometer is a laser-based instrument for fast and efficient characterisation and enumeration of fluorescent particles. We can use the instrument for a wide range of applications including characterising and counting phytoplankton populations using naturally fluorescing pigments and quantifying the DNA content of cells using DNA-specific fluorescent stains. The FACSCalibur greatly reduces the counting time for a wide range of particles enabling sampling regimes that could not be supported by traditional microscope counting methods. The instrument is used in a wide range of research and commercial applications including investigating microbial food web dynamics, food preferences of shellfish and evaluation of the toxicity of effluents.
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Galai Sediment Analyser

Our Galai, one of only two in the country, uses laser-based measurements to determine particle size and uses image analysis to determine particle shape. This information helps identify the origin of sand grains and therefore the nature of local coastal processes.
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GPS Total Station

NIWA uses a Trimble RTK GPS Total Station 5700 surveying system to undertake precise topographic and bathymetric surveys. These surveys are used to measure beach stability, river bed erosion and deposition, and to make digital terrain models of rivers for 2-dimensional hydrodynamic modelling.
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Mass Spectrometers

NIWA's state of the art Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) facility supports our research and commercial analyses, providing tailor-made solutions for various environmental and atmospheric questions. Our purpose built facility houses high precision MAT252 and MAT253 mass spectrometers, equipped with Thermo Scientific Kiel (III & IV) devices, as well as DeltaPlus mass spectrometers by Thermo Scientific, and a Micromass Isoprime. 
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Mobile Air Quality Monitoring Trailers

NIWA operates two mobile air quality monitoring trailers which can be used for measuring air quality anywhere in New Zealand or as general mobile laboratories for field work. A basic mobile unit consists of a secure air-conditioned trailer complete with meteorological sensors, data logging system, modem and cell-phone for remote access, and GPS equipment. Various high performance continuous air quality analysers can be added to the system as required.
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Multi-beam Swath System

Hull-mounted on the RV Tangaroa, the EM-300 multibeam echosounder maps the seafloor using a fan of 135 acoustic beams, providing 100% coverage of the seabed. The resulting surveys show far greater detail than the earlier method of multiple lines using a single-beam sounder, as well as greatly reduced ship survey time and cost.
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Multi Channel Seismic (MCS) system

NIWA's research vessel Tangaroa has been fitted out with a multi-channel seismic reflection system for mapping subsurface geologic structures and sedimentary sequences beneath the continental margin. The MCS system has proved itself in numerous scientific voyages and commercial contracts.
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PIT Tagger

Passive Inserted Transponder tagging is used for radio and acoustic tracking of fish (or any animal). Once a fish is PIT tagged, it can be located and identified by a hand-held tracker or it can be automatically recorded when it passes an installed antenna.
Contact: Jacques Boubee [ j.boubee@niwa.co.nz ]

QTC Impact

QTC Impact is an acoustic classification system that allows different elements of freshwater and marine benthic environments – such as reef, sands, muds, shell, and dense bivalve populations – to be discriminated from each other. It operates from the output of a scientific-quality single-beam echo sounder, and can be used either as a dedicated survey system or in the background as a survey vessel undertakes other tasks. Data output is as geo-referenced survey lines, with a Geographic Information System (GIS) being used to subsequently contour this data to produce benthic habitat maps.
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Salinity Monitoring Buoys

NIWA has developed a buoy that incorporates leading-edge technology to monitor and report (via cell phone telemetry) on the salinity conditions used to govern shellfish harvesting. A network of these buoys in the Nelson/Marborough region has extended the harvest season by refining the information about impact events.
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Submersible In-situ Flume

NIWA’s submersible in-situ flume is designed to study erosion of muddy sediments in rivers, lakes and estuaries under controlled flow conditions.
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UV & Ozone Instruments

NIWA’s atmospheric research site at Lauder is one of five primary charter sites for the International Network for the Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC). Initially this network was set up to investigate long-term changes in the atmosphere resulting from increases in ozone-depleting chemicals. The scope has been broadened and the measurements available now include quantities that are relevant to broader issues of climate change, such as global warming. Consequently, there is a wide range of state-of-the-art equipment at Lauder, much of which is operated with international partners, providing ongoing data on a wide range of atmospheric constituents and radiation quantities. NIWA UV spectrometers are available commercially. Lauder data are also archived in the World Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation Data Centre (WOUDC) and in the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN).
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