The National Coastal Change Dataset presents an 80-year timeseries of historical coastal change (erosion and accretion) around Aotearoa New Zealand. This dataset is one part of the puzzle in understanding coastal erosion patterns. Several other complimentary coastal datasets exist. Together, these datasets provide decision makers with a powerful set of tools to assess coastal management questions. Other important coastal datasets for coastal erosion in NZ include:

  1. The NZ SeaRise programme provide location-specific sea-level projections for New Zealand that incorporate local land movement measurements. These data are provided at 2 km intervals around the coast. More information and download data.
  2. Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) are working on a coastal mapping project using LiDAR (Light detection and ranging) to create 3D maps of the nearshore zone. These 3D maps will help inform communities about the risks of coastal flooding and will also be useful for studying risks associated with coastal erosion.
  3. The University of New South Wales, Australia have released a dataset of recent shoreline change for New Zealand’s sandy beaches between 1999 and 2023. The dataset can be accessed here. This data set captures changes in the dynamic sand/water interface based on publicly available satellite imagery. It is complimentary to, but different from New Zealand’s National Coastal Change Dataset, which shows 80 years of change of shoreline indicators such as the edge of dune vegetation or the cliff top. 
  4. New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) have produced an Extreme Coastal Flood Map dataset comprising a range of flooding and sea level scenarios up to 2m above present day mean sea level. This dataset provides a comprehensive assessment of coastal flood risk across New Zealand. More information and download data.