The New Zealand Drought Monitor is a system for keeping track of drought conditions across New Zealand based on a standardised climate index.
For more information, click here.
The index, called the New Zealand Drought Index (NZDI), is a climate data-based indicator of drought based on four commonly-used climatological drought indicators: the Standardised Precipitation Index, the Soil Moisture Deficit, the Soil Moisture Deficit Anomaly, and the Potential Evapotranspiration Deficit. The index has five categories: Dry, Very Dry, Extremely Dry, Drought, and Severe Drought. It is presented as a map and as charts; updated daily (note, there is a two-day time delay to ensure all available data is used).
These maps are updated daily and are based on data from NIWA's National Climate Database:
For actual daily information, click here.
Below are some sample maps from a 15 day period in January where national temperatures were above normal.
Hear from the farmers who are using our resources to aid on-farm irrigation decisions and the impact its having on productivity, profits and the environment.
