growRural Dunedin
A new initiative that will offer growers' detailed soil and climate information to help them utilise their land better has been launched. GrowRural Dunedin will let farmers "zoom in" on their property and learn more about soils and microclimates that affect their land.
growRural Dunedin is an initiative developed by the Dunedin City Council in conjunction with Dunedin Rural Development. It is aimed at providing accurate soil maps and climate information for the rural community to use as a tool in land use management with the focus of contributing to the economic development of the region. Measurements, data analysis and collation, and creation of the final maps were managed by the Landcare Research Ltd.
growRural Dunedin comes in the footsteps of the growOtago initiative that is part of the Otago Regional Councils contribution to economic development. growRural Dunedin has obvious synergies with growOtago from both the soil and climate information provided. The information produced by growOtago is mostly at 1:50,000 scale, while growRural Dunedin soils are mapped at 1:25,000 scale. This "magnification" was done because so that it may have more relevance to the agricultural activities of Dunedin.
The information provided by growRural Dunedin consists of compiling previous information as well as new soil and climate data collected resulting in detailed soil maps and climate tables for the Strath-Taieri, Taieri, Waikouaiti Coast, Saddle Hill, Otago Peninsula and Chalmers Community Board areas. This information is quite possibly one of the most detailed and accurate series of soil maps and climate information that has ever been produced for Dunedin City.
GrowRural Dunedin can be obtained in three forms:
- Soil and climate information CD-ROM containing to view the soil maps and climate tables in Adobe pdf documents and Microsoft Word format respectively. These maps can be printed on your home printer.
- Web site http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/council-online/webmaps/growrural. This web site links to the City of Dunedin web site where you can use the GIS map to locate your property, overlay the soil maps and identify climate stations. You can also link into growOtago web site http://www.orc govt.nz and use the information provided by the Otago Regional Council.
- High quality soil maps that display soil types within each region outlined above (1:25000). A set of maps can be purchased from the Dunedin City Council for each of the Community Board areas. Contact gstrong@dcc.govt.nz for more information on how to obtain hardcopy maps.
Soil maps (mapped at 1:25,000 scale)
Comprehensive soil maps have been produced for:
- Strath-Taieri
- Taieri Plains
- Taieri Uplands
- Chalmers
- Saddle Hill
- Waikouaiti Coast
- Otago Peninsula
On CD-Roms, soil types on each map are labelled with specific codes. Using these codes the user can identify exactly what the soil type is and then can go to the appropriate Adobe pdf document to learn more about the soil type.
On this web site you can identify your property, overlay the soil maps over it, and click onto the soil type and a comprehensive description will appear, click to see example.
Each soil type sheet contains information that relates to a typical average property, individual properties may show some variation to the information provided under the following headings:
- Overview
- Key profile features
- Key physical properties
- Key chemical properties
- Associated and similar soils
- Vulnerability to environmental degradation
- General land use versatility rating
Climate parameters shown by growRural Dunedin
The growRural Dunedin initiative involved placement of temporary climate stations within the greater Dunedin area for one year. Community input has been very important allowing stations to be placed on properties and climate stations were monitored for 12 months and collated with data collected since 1971.
Data is presented in a Microsoft Word table where the table shows the location of the climate station, map reference, longitude and latitude and monthly and yearly data, (click to see example), for:
- Air temperature
- Frost
- Radiation
- Wind Speed
- Growing Degree Days
- Chill units
Climate stations are marked on the growRural Dunedin web site with a 
and are available as a Microsoft Word document on CD-Roms.
General description of the climate parameters
Air temperature
Average, minimum and maximum air temperature was measured using the standard Stevenson screen at 1.3 m above the ground.
Frost
All frost measured for growRural Dunedin are air frosts which occur when the minimum air temperature at 1.3 m above the ground falls below 0 °C.
Radiation
Solar radiation is a combination of light energy received both directly and indirectly (through scattering of particles in the air) at the ground.
Wind speed
The average annual wind speed has been mapped. Monthly data is not available.
Growing degree days
Growing degree days are calculated by subtracting a base temperature from the average daily temperature and this information is then added together for each month with a yearly average provided. This gives an indication of the available energy a plant can use for growth where data for a base temperatures of 5 °C (for cooler crop plants e.g. pasture) and 10 °C (for warmer crop plants, e.g. grapes) have been provided.
Chill Units
Chilling units are calculated from hourly air temperatures measured 1.3 m above the ground. If temperatures fall between 0 °C and 7 °C over a whole hour, that is counted as one Chill Unit.
Disclaimer
growRural Dunedin and the information it contains is a service to its users provided by Dunedin Rural Development Inc and the Dunedin City Council. The information presented is for informative purposes only. Users are welcome to copy information, documents and materials for personal and commercial use, but may not resell, redistribute or create derivative works from the information contained in this web site. Dunedin Rural Development Inc and the Dunedin City Council and its affiliates have provided this web site and the information it contains exercising all reasonable skill and care, but can give no warranty that they are free from errors, omissions or other inaccuracies. Neither Dunedin Rural Development Inc, the Dunedin City Council nor its affiliates is liable for any loss or damage in connection with the use of this web site or the information stored on it, provided that in the event that any of them is found to be liable for loss or damage to any person such liability is limited to the sum of NZ$1,000.
Last reviewed: 28 Jan 2009 12:18pm
