8 Nov 2025

The tech behind NZ's Earth Science

From Saturday Morning, 10:44 am on 8 November 2025
Photo of Graham Leonard

Graham Leonard Photo: Jeff McEwan, Capture Studios

Volcanologist and Earth Sciences New Zealand principal scientist, Graham Leonard is back this week looking at the technology driving new Earth science.

This wide ranging tech allows scientists to understand our planet and continent better, from new satellites and drones, to regular laser and radar based scanning of the country, integration with bespoke AI, quantum tech on deep ocean fibre cables to detect tsunami, and analysing wobbles in GPS signals through the ionosphere to detect Space Weather and maybe also tsunami.

Landslide runout forecasts over an image and LiDAR model of the land. ESNZ.

Landslide runout forecasts over an image and LiDAR model of the land. Photo: ESNZ