Topographic Layers

This dataset provides current outlines of buildings within mainland New Zealand captured from the latest aerial imagery.

A building outline is a 2D representation of the roof outline of a building which has been classified from LINZ aerial imagery using a combination of automated and manual processes to extract and refine a building roof outline.

Building outlines observed in aerial imagery larger than or equal to 10 square meters are captured in this dataset, and may include structures such as garages and large sheds.

Data vintage

This dataset shows the most recent set of building outlines extracted from the LINZ aerial imagery available on the LINZ Data Service.

Current coverage includes areas in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu-Whanganui, Wellington, Tasman, West Coast, Marlborough, Canterbury, Southland and Otago. This dataset will be updated and expanded as new aerial imagery becomes available.

Since aerial imagery is flown only every few years in each region of the country, building outlines only reflect those buildings observed at the date of this aerial imagery capture, and may not reflect buildings constructed after this time period.

Please refer to the NZ Building Outlines Data Dictionary for detailed metadata and information about this dataset.

Related building outlines data

NZ Building Outlines (All Sources) - contains all combinations of building outlines from multiple years of imagery that have existed since the beginning of this dataset, and the dates when each building outline existed in the associated aerial imagery.

NZ Building Outlines Lifecycle - is related to the dataset above and stores the relationship between building outlines when one building is split into two or more building outlines, or when multiple building outlines are merged into a single outline.

This dataset provides building outlines within mainland New Zealand extracted from multiple years of aerial imagery, allowing you to see change over time, or restrict the dataset to building outlines that match a specific aerial imagery source.

A building outline is a 2D representation of the roof outline of a building which has been classified from LINZ aerial imagery using a combination of automated and manual processes to extract and refine a building roof outline.

Building roof outlines observed in aerial imagery larger than or equal to 10 square meters are captured in this dataset, and may include structures such as garages and large sheds.

Data vintage

This dataset contains all building outlines which have been extracted from multiple years of aerial imagery available in each region of the country, including the most recent imagery. This dataset includes the dates for which each building existed in the aerial imagery.

Coverage areas include Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu-Whanganui, Wellington, Tasman, West Coast, Marlborough, Canterbury, Southland and Otago. This dataset will be updated and expanded as new aerial imagery becomes available.

Please refer to the NZ Building Outlines Data Dictionary for detailed metadata and information about this dataset.

Related building outlines data

NZ Building Outlines Lifecycle – stores the relationship between building outlines when one building is split into two or more building outlines, or when multiple building outlines are merged into a single outline. Use this in conjunction with the NZ Building Outlines (All Sources) dataset.

NZ Building Outlines - provides current building outlines only, derived from the latest LINZ aerial imagery.

This provides a polygon coastline and islands layer which is based on the Topo50 products. It is a combination of the following layers:

• NZ Coastlines (Topo 1:50k)
• NZ Island Polygons (Topo 1:50k)
• NZ Auckland Is Island Polygons (Topo, 1:50k)
• NZ Campbell Is / Motu Ihupuku Island Polygons (Topo, 1:50k)
• NZ Antipodes Is Island Polygons (Topo, 1:25k)
• NZ Kermadec Is Island Polygons (Topo, 1:25k)
• NZ Bounty Is Island Polygons (Topo, 1:25k)
• NZ Snares Is / Tini Heke Island Polygons (Topo, 1:25k)
• NZ Chatham Is island polygons (Topo, 1:50k)

This topographic coastline is the line forming the boundary between the land and sea, defined by mean high water.

Islands from the NZ Island Polygons layer that lie within the NZ Coastline and Chatham Islands areas (i.e. islands in lakes, rivers and estuaries) have been removed.

The GIS workflow to create the layer is:

1. NZ Coastlines were converted from a polyline to a polygon using a polyline to polygon tool.
2. The resulting coastal polygon was then used as an input into an erase tool and run against the NZ Island Polygon layer to remove all islands lying within the NZ Mainland and Stewart Island.
3. This was then merged with the NZ Chatham Is island polygons (Topo, 1:50k) that have had the islands within the main island polygon removed, NZ Auckland Is Island Polygons (Topo, 1:50k), NZ Campbell Is / Motu Ihupuku Island, NZ Antipodes Is Island Polygons (Topo, 1:25k), NZ Kermadec Is Island Polygons (Topo, 1:25k), NZ Bounty Is Island Polygons (Topo, 1:25k) and NZ Snares Is / Tini Heke Island Polygons (Topo, 1:25k) layers using a merge tool.
4. Lake Onoke from the NZ Lake Polygons (Topo 1:50k) layer and Te Whanga Lagoon from the NZ Chatham Is lagoon polygons (Topo, 1:50k) layer were then erased from the resultant polygon layer to include these two water bodies in the coastline definition.

For more detailed description of each layer refer to the layer urls above.

This provides a polygon coastline and islands layer which is based on the Topo250 products. It is a combination of the following layers:

• NZ Mainland coastlines (Topo, 1:250k)
• NZ Mainland island polygons (Topo, 1:250k)
• NZ Chatham Is island polygons (Topo, 1:250k)

This topographic coastline is the line forming the boundary between the land and sea, defined by mean high water.

Islands from the NZ Island Polygons layer that lie within the NZ Coastline and Chatham Islands areas (i.e. islands in lakes, rivers and estuaries) have been removed.

The GIS workflow to create the layer is:

1. NZ Coastlines were converted from a polyline to a polygon using a polyline to polygon tool.
2. The resulting coastal polygon was then used as an input into an erase tool and run against the NZ Island Polygon layer to remove all islands lying within the NZ Mainland and Stewart Island.
3. This was then merged with the NZ Chatham Is island polygons (Topo, 1:250k) that have had the islands within the main island polygon removed using a merge tool.
4. Lake Onoke from the NZ Mainland lake polygons (Topo, 1:250k) layer and Te Whanga Lagoon from the NZ Chatham Is lagoon polygons (Topo, 1:250k) layer were then erased from the resultant polygon layer to include these two water bodies in the coastline definition.

For more detailed description of each layer refer to the layer urls above.

This layer has been provided to enable potential users to identify the coverage of photography for Mainland NZ flown on behalf of the Crown between 1936 and 2005. It shows the extent of each photograph taken from the CROWN archive.

Historic Aerial Photos, Survey Footprints, CROWN (1936-2005) shows the extent of each CROWN survey undertaken.

Some photos from the NZAM archive may also appear in this layer. The Historic Aerial Photos, Survey Footprints, NZAM (1939-2008) shows the extent of each NZAM survey undertaken

See The Crown historic aerial photo archive scanning project for information about the scanning project.

How to Access Photos:
The photos are not downloadable from the LINZ Data Service.

Scanned photos from the partner regions may be viewed and downloaded from Retrolens.

The Crown Aerial Film Negative Collection is managed for LINZ by WSP Opus International. For photos not scanned yet, you can order images from the Collection from Opus NZ in a number of formats, including:

• contact prints
• enlargements
• digital files
• precision scans for photogrammetric production
• orthophotos

You will need to tell Opus International the survey, run and photo number (values in the ‘SURVEY’ 'RUN' and 'PHOTO_NO' attributes) covering your area of interest.
Opus NZ will be able to provide information about the cost of providing images in the various formats. Contact them at: photosales@opus.co.nz or 0800 680 690

There are also a large number of images which previously belonged to New Zealand Aerial Mapping and which are now are available for public use. Historic Aerial Photos, Survey Footprints, NZAM (1939-2008) shows the extent of each survey undertaken. You can order these photos by contacting Opus NZ.

Descriptive text; object used to hold text.

Data Dictionary for descriptive_text: apps.linz.govt.nz/topo-data-dictionary/index.aspx?...

This layer is a component of the Ant50 map series. This is the topographic mapping carried out at 1:50,000 scale by LINZ within the Ross Dependency, Antarctica.

Geographic name holds the proper noun of certain objects within the Topo databases. Geographic_name does not apply to roads, railway lines, or descriptive text - eg 'Brunner Mine' would be a Geographic_name but 'mine disused' is held in the descriptive_text feature

Data Dictionary for geographic_name: apps.linz.govt.nz/topo-data-dictionary/index.aspx?...

This layer is a component of the Ant50 map series. This is the topographic mapping carried out at 1:50,000 scale by LINZ within the Ross Dependency, Antarctica.

The Topo50 map series provides topographic mapping for the New Zealand mainland, the Chatham Islands, and offshore islands at 1:50,000 scale.

Along with the paper-based Topo50 map series, digital images of the maps are also publicly available.

Georeferenced raster digital images are provided at a resolution of 300 DPI. Georeferencing allows adjacent maps to be accurately and automatically aligned within GIS systems.

For more information, and a description of the georeferencing keys:
www.linz.govt.nz/topography/topo-maps/topo50/digit...

Please be aware of the following:

• Representation of a road or track does not necessarily indicate public right of access. For access rights, maps and other information, contact the New Zealand Walking Access Commission - www.walkingaccess.govt.nz

• The Department of Conservation and other agencies should be contacted for the latest information on tracks and back country huts. Closed tracks are defined as being no longer maintained or passable and should not be used.

• Not all aerial wires, cableways and obstructions that could be hazardous to aircraft are held in the data.

• Contours and spot elevations in forest and snow areas may be less accurate.

• Not all pipelines including both underground and above ground are held in the data or shown on the printed maps. For the latest information please contact the utility and infrastructure agencies

• Permits may be required to visit some sensitive and special islands and areas. Contact the Department of Conservation to see if you need to apply for a permit.

The Topo50 map series provides topographic mapping for the New Zealand mainland, the Chatham Islands, and offshore islands at 1:50,000 scale.

Along with the paper-based Topo50 map series, digital images of the maps are also publicly available.

Georeferenced raster digital images are provided at a resolution of 300 DPI. Georeferencing allows adjacent maps to be accurately and automatically aligned within GIS systems.

For more information, and a description of the georeferencing keys:
www.linz.govt.nz/topography/topo-maps/topo50/digit...

Please be aware of the following:

• Representation of a road or track does not necessarily indicate public right of access. For access rights, maps and other information, contact the New Zealand Walking Access Commission - www.walkingaccess.govt.nz

• The Department of Conservation and other agencies should be contacted for the latest information on tracks and back country huts. Closed tracks are defined as being no longer maintained or passable and should not be used.

• Not all aerial wires, cableways and obstructions that could be hazardous to aircraft are held in the data.

• Contours and spot elevations in forest and snow areas may be less accurate.

• Not all pipelines including both underground and above ground are held in the data or shown on the printed maps. For the latest information please contact the utility and infrastructure agencies

• Permits may be required to visit some sensitive and special islands and areas. Contact the Department of Conservation to see if you need to apply for a permit.

A wrecked vessel, either submerged or visible which is attached to or foul of the bottom or cast up on the shore; or a greatly disabled or damaged vehicle

Data Dictionary for wreck_pnt: apps.linz.govt.nz/topo-data-dictionary/index.aspx?...

This layer is a component of the Topo50 map series. The Topo50 map series provides topographic mapping for the New Zealand mainland, Chatham and New Zealand's offshore islands, at 1:50,000 scale and replaces the NZMS260 series.

Further information on Topo50:
www.linz.govt.nz/topography/topo-maps/topo50