LINZ resumes coastal LiDAR flights across New Zealand until May 2027

Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) has started a further season of airborne surveys for its 3D Coastal Mapping programme. Over its life, the programme is meant to cover as much as 40 percent of the national shoreline, combining LiDAR with multi-beam echosounders.

Flights are scheduled between early November 2026 and May 2027, subject to weather and water clarity. Woolpert works in the North Island and NV5 Geospatial in the South Island. Coverage includes coastal Auckland, Waikato, Gisborne, Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay, Manawatū-Whanganui, Wellington, Southland, Canterbury, the West Coast and Marlborough.

Sites were picked because of dense populations, key infrastructure or elevated flood risk. The results will feed detailed maps of land and shallow seabed, and an online tracker shows progress. Programme lead Stuart Caie said the data should help councils plan for tsunamis, storm surges and erosion.

Why it matters: Repeat topo-bathymetric LiDAR campaigns show how national agencies build seamless land-sea elevation baselines for hazard and climate planning. Countries with exposed coastlines, including African states, can draw on the approach and open-data release model.