A network of sea level monitoring devices has been installed to help New Zealand monitor the threat of tsunami.

Pressure sensors on gauges installed at 17 sites around New Zealand measure any significant change in the sea level, with data being transmitted in real time to GNS Science’s GeoNet data management centre.

GNS Science assesses the data and advises the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management (MCDEM) regarding the level of threat posed by tsunami.

The tsunami network project, led by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), now forms an important component of a wider tsunami monitoring system for New Zealand and across the Pacific.

Graeme Blick, chief geodesist, congratulated all involved with the project.

"The fact the network was completed on time and within budget is testament to the cooperative effort that went in to the project," he said.

The installation took five years to complete, and was made more challenging by the rough environment in which the sea level gauges were installed, and the long process of obtaining approvals and consents.

Agencies involved included GNS Science, MCDEM, NIWA, MoRST, Waikato University and consultancy firm URS, as well as Australian agencies involved in the development of a similar network there.