Hon Louise Upston

Minister for Land Information

19 November 2015

LINZ to support climate research in Antarctica

Kiwi experts are teaming up with French and US scientists in Antarctica this week, as part of international efforts to understand the impacts of climate change on the frozen continent, Land Information Minister Louise Upston said today.

“Antarctica is an important measure of global climate, so the work LINZ is doing will help climate scientists to better understand the impact that global phenomenon like sea level rise have on all of us,” Ms Upston says.

LINZ are working with French and US scientists on gravity surveys at Scott Base, McMurdo Station and Cape Roberts. This contributes to the US-led POLENET programme to understand change at the Poles. It will give researchers a benchmark for measuring sea level rise, ice melt, and earth movement in Antarctica.

“LINZ’s other work on the ice includes calibrating tide gauges – a vital source of sea level data – as well as surveying the huts used by explorers Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton, and Sir Edmund Hillary.

“The hut surveys show the Antarctic Heritage Trust if there has been any movement to these buildings – essential information for their long term conservation.”

LINZ and its predecessor organisations have supported New Zealand’s Antarctic work for decades. It produces maps, nautical charts and navigation information for New Zealand’s Antarctic territories, and the New Zealand Geographic Board is responsible for place names in the Ross Dependency.

LINZ staff will be in Antarctica until 4 December 2015.

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