DATA SOURCE: National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)
[Technical report available at https://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/environmental-reporting/ministry-environment-atmosphere-and-climate-report-2020-updated]
Adapted by Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand to provide for environmental reporting transparency
Dataset used to develop the "Drought indicator [available at https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/drought]
This indicator uses the Standardised Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), which incorporates temperature and precipitation, to measure drought events. We report on drought frequency, duration, severity, and intensity at three different time scales (short-term (3 months), medium-term (6 months) and long-term (12 months)). These different time scales are approximately equivalent to meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological drought, respectively. We do this for 30 sites across New Zealand from 1972 to 2019, and also present trends for the same period.
More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.
