'''DEFINITION''' The time series are derived from the regional chlorophyll reprocessed (MY) product as distributed by CMEMS (OCEANCOLOUR_MED_BGC_L3_NRT_009_141). This dataset, derived from multi-sensor (SeaStar-SeaWiFS, AQUA-MODIS, NOAA20-VIIRS, NPP-VIIRS, Envisat-MERIS and Sentinel3-OLCI) Rrs spectra produced by CNR using an in-house processing chain, is obtained by means of the Mediterranean Ocean Colour regional algorithms: an updated version of the MedOC4 (Case 1 (off-shore) waters, Volpe et al., 2019, with new coefficients) and AD4 (Case 2 (coastal) waters, Berthon and Zibordi, 2004). The processing chain and the techniques used for algorithms merging are detailed in Colella et al. (2023). Monthly regional mean values are calculated by performing the average of 2D monthly mean (weighted by pixel area) over the region of interest. The deseasonalized time series is obtained by applying the X-11 seasonal adjustment methodology on the original time series as described in Colella et al. (2016), and then the Mann-Kendall test (Mann, 1945; Kendall, 1975) and Sens’s method (Sen, 1968) are subsequently applied to obtain the magnitude of trend. This OMI has been introduced since the 2nd issue of Ocean State Report in 2017. '''CONTEXT''' Phytoplankton and chlorophyll concentration as a proxy for phytoplankton respond rapidly to changes in environmental conditions, such as light, temperature, nutrients and mixing (Colella et al. 2016). The character of the response depends on the nature of the change drivers, and ranges from seasonal cycles to decadal oscillations (Basterretxea et al. 2018). Therefore, it is of critical importance to monitor chlorophyll concentration at multiple temporal and spatial scales, in order to be able to separate potential long-term climate signals from natural variability in the short term. In particular, phytoplankton in the Mediterranean Sea is known to respond to climate variability associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) (Basterretxea et al. 2018, Colella et al. 2016). '''KEY FINDINGS''' In the Mediterranean Sea, the average chlorophyll trend for the 1997–2024 period is slightly negative, at -0.77 ± 0.59% per year, reinforcing the findings of the previous releases. This result contrasts with the analysis by Sathyendranath et al. (2018), which reported increasing chlorophyll concentrations across all European seas. From around 2010–2011 onward, excluding the 2018–2019 period, a noticeable decline in chlorophyll levels is evident in the deseasonalized time series (green line) and in the observed maxima (grey line), particularly from 2015. This sustained decline over the past decade contributes to the overall negative trend observed in the Mediterranean Sea. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00259

'''This product has been archived''' For operationnal and online products, please visit https://marine.copernicus.eu '''Short description:''' The Global Ocean Satellite monitoring and marine ecosystem study group (GOS) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), in Rome operationally produces Level-4 product includes monthly averaged datasets of the diffuse attenuation coefficient of light at 490 nm (Kd490) for multi-sensor (MODIS-AQUA, NOAA20-VIIRS, NPP-VIIRS, Sentinel3A-OLCI at 300m of resolution) (at 1 km resolution) and Sentinel3A-OLCI observations (at 300m resolution). Kd490 is the diffuse attenuation coefficient of light at 490 nm, and is a measure of the turbidity of the water column, i.e., how visible light in the blue-green region of the spectrum penetrates the water column. It is directly related to the presence of absorbing and scattering matter in the water column and is estimated through the ratio between Rrs at 490 and 555 nm. For the multi-sensor dataset, single sensor Rrs fields are band-shifted, over the SeaWiFS native bands (using the QAAv6 model, Lee et al., 2002) and merged with a technique aimed at smoothing the differences among different sensors. This technique is developed by the GOS. The QAA allows the inversion of the radiative transfer equations to compute the Inherent Optical Properties. Level-4 product includes monthly averages along with the standard deviation and the number of observations in the period of integration. '''Processing information:''' Multi-sensor products are constituted by MODIS-AQUA, NOAA20-VIIRS, NPP-VIIRS and Sentinel3A-OLCI. For consistency with NASA L2 dataset, BRDF correction was applied to Sentinel3A-OLCI prior to band shifting and multi sensor merging. Hence, the single sensor OLCI data set is also distributed after BRDF correction. Single sensor NASA Level-2 data are destriped and then all Level-2 data are remapped at 1 km spatial resolution (300m for Sentinel3A-OLCI) using cylindrical equirectangular projection. Afterwards, single sensor Rrs fields are band-shifted, over the SeaWiFS native bands (using the QAAv6 model, Lee et al., 2002) and merged with a technique aimed at smoothing the differences among different sensors. This technique is developed by The Global Ocean Satellite monitoring and marine ecosystem study group (GOS) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR, Rome). Then geophysical fields (i.e. chlorophyll, kd490, bbp, aph and adg) are estimated via state-of-the-art algorithms for better product quality. Time averages are computed on the delayed-time data. '''Description of observation methods/instruments:''' Ocean colour technique exploits the emerging electromagnetic radiation from the sea surface in different wavelengths. The spectral variability of this signal defines the so-called ocean colour which is affected by the presence of phytoplankton. '''Quality / Accuracy / Calibration information:''' A detailed description of the calibration and validation activities performed over this product can be found on the CMEMS web portal. '''Suitability, Expected type of users / uses:''' This product is meant for use for educational purposes and for the managing of the marine safety, marine resources, marine and coastal environment and for climate and seasonal studies. '''Dataset names :''' *dataset-oc-med-opt-multi-l4-kd490_1km_monthly-rt-v02 *dataset-oc-med-opt-olci-l4-kd490_300m_monthly-rt '''Files format:''' *CF-1.4 *INSPIRE compliant '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00117

'''This product has been archived'''                For operationnal and online products, please visit https://marine.copernicus.eu '''Short description:''' Altimeter satellite along-track sea surface heights anomalies (SLA) computed with respect to a twenty-year [1993, 2012] mean with a 1Hz (~7km) sampling. It serves in near-real time applications. This product is processed by the DUACS multimission altimeter data processing system. It processes data from all altimeter missions available (e.g. Sentinel-6A, Jason-3, Sentinel-3A, Sentinel-3B, Saral/AltiKa, Cryosat-2, HY-2B). The system exploits the most recent datasets available based on the enhanced OGDR/NRT+IGDR/STC production. All the missions are homogenized with respect to a reference mission. Part of the processing is fitted to the European Sea area. (see QUID document or http://duacs.cls.fr [http://duacs.cls.fr] pages for processing details). The product gives additional variables (e.g. Mean Dynamic Topography, Dynamic Atmospheric Correction, Ocean Tides, Long Wavelength Errors) that can be used to change the physical content for specific needs (see PUM document for details) “’Associated products”’ A time invariant product http://marine.copernicus.eu/services-portfolio/access-to-products/?option=com_csw&view=details&product_id=SEALEVEL_GLO_NOISE_L4_NRT_OBSERVATIONS_008_032 [http://marine.copernicus.eu/services-portfolio/access-to-products/?option=com_csw&view=details&product_id=SEALEVEL_GLO_PHY_NOISE_L4_STATIC_008_033] describing the noise level of along-track measurements is available. It is associated to the sla_filtered variable. It is a gridded product. One file is provided for the global ocean and those values must be applied for Arctic and Europe products. For Mediterranean and Black seas, one value is given in the QUID document. '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00140

''' Short description: ''' For the Mediterranean Sea - the CNR diurnal sub-skin Sea Surface Temperature (SST) product provides daily gap-free (L4) maps of hourly mean sub-skin SST at 1/16° (0.0625°) horizontal resolution over the CMEMS Mediterranean Sea (MED) domain, by combining infrared satellite and model data (Marullo et al., 2014). The implementation of this product takes advantage of the consolidated operational SST processing chains that provide daily mean SST fields over the same basin (Buongiorno Nardelli et al., 2013). The sub-skin temperature is the temperature at the base of the thermal skin layer and it is equivalent to the foundation SST at night, but during daytime it can be significantly different under favorable (clear sky and low wind) diurnal warming conditions. The sub-skin SST L4 product is created by combining geostationary satellite observations aquired from SEVIRI and model data (used as first-guess) aquired from the CMEMS MED Monitoring Forecasting Center (MFC). This approach takes advantage of geostationary satellite observations as the input signal source to produce hourly gap-free SST fields using model analyses as first-guess. The resulting SST anomaly field (satellite-model) is free, or nearly free, of any diurnal cycle, thus allowing to interpolate SST anomalies using satellite data acquired at different times of the day (Marullo et al., 2014). [https://help.marine.copernicus.eu/en/articles/4444611-how-to-cite-or-reference-copernicus-marine-products-and-services How to cite] '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00170

'''DEFINITION''' Ocean heat content (OHC) is defined here as the deviation from a reference period (1993-2014) and is closely proportional to the average temperature change from z1 = 0 m to z2 = 700 m depth: OHC=∫_(z_1)^(z_2)ρ_0 c_p (T_yr-T_clim )dz [1] with a reference density of = 1030 kgm-3 and a specific heat capacity of cp = 3980 J kg-1 °C-1 (e.g. von Schuckmann et al., 2009). Time series of annual mean values area averaged ocean heat content is provided for the Mediterranean Sea (30°N, 46°N; 6°W, 36°E) and is evaluated for topography deeper than 300m. '''CONTEXT''' Knowing how much and where heat energy is stored and released in the ocean is essential for understanding the contemporary Earth system state, variability and change, as the oceans shape our perspectives for the future. The quality evaluation of MEDSEA_OMI_OHC_area_averaged_anomalies is based on the “multi-product” approach as introduced in the second issue of the Ocean State Report (von Schuckmann et al., 2018), and following the MyOcean’s experience (Masina et al., 2017). Six global products and a regional (Mediterranean Sea) product have been used to build an ensemble mean, and its associated ensemble spread. The reference products are: • The Mediterranean Sea Reanalysis at 1/24 degree horizontal resolution (MEDSEA_MULTIYEAR_PHY_006_004, DOI: https://doi.org/10.25423/CMCC/MEDSEA_MULTIYEAR_PHY_006_004_E3R1, Escudier et al., 2020) • Four global reanalyses at 1/4 degree horizontal resolution (GLOBAL_MULTIYEAR_PHY_ENS_001_031): GLORYS, C-GLORS, ORAS5, FOAM • Two observation based products: CORA (INSITU_GLO_PHY_TS_OA_MY_013_052) and ARMOR3D (MULTIOBS_GLO_PHY_TSUV_3D_MYNRT_015_012). Details on the products are delivered in the PUM and QUID of this OMI. '''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS''' The ensemble mean ocean heat content anomaly time series over the Mediterranean Sea shows a continuous increase in the period 1993-2022 at rate of 1.38±0.08 W/m2 in the upper 700m. After 2005 the rate has clearly increased with respect the previous decade, in agreement with Iona et al. (2018). '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00261

'''DEFINITION''' The regional annual chlorophyll anomaly is computed by subtracting a reference climatology (1997-2014) from the annual chlorophyll mean, on a pixel-by-pixel basis and in log10 space. Both the annual mean and the climatology are computed employing the regional products as distributed by CMEMS, derived by application of the regional chlorophyll algorithms over remote sensing reflectances (Rrs) produced by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) using the ESA Ocean Colour Climate Change Initiative processor (ESA OC-CCI, Sathyendranath et al., 2018a). '''CONTEXT''' Phytoplankton and chlorophyll concentration as their proxy respond rapidly to changes in their physical environment. In the Mediterranean Sea, these changes are seasonal and are mostly determined by light and nutrient availability (Gregg and Rousseaux, 2014). By comparing annual mean values to the climatology, we effectively remove the seasonal signal at each grid point, while retaining information on peculiar events during the year. In particular, chlorophyll anomalies in the Mediterranean Sea can then be correlated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) (Basterretxea et al 2018, Colella et al 2016). '''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS''' The 2019 average chlorophyll anomaly in the Mediterranean Sea is 1.02 mg m-3 (0.005 in log10 [mg m-3]), with a maximum value of 73 mg m-3 (1.86 log10 [mg m-3]) and a minimum value of 0.04 mg m-3 (-1.42 log10 [mg m-3]). The overall east west divided pattern reported in 2016, showing negative anomalies for the Western Mediterranean Sea and positive anomalies for the Levantine Sea (Sathyendranath et al., 2018b) is modified in 2019, with a widespread positive anomaly all over the eastern basin, which reaches the western one, up to the offshore water at the west of Sardinia. Negative anomaly values occur in the coastal areas of the basin and in some sectors of the Alboràn Sea. In the northwestern Mediterranean the values switch to be positive again in contrast to the negative values registered in 2017 anomaly. The North Adriatic Sea shows a negative anomaly offshore the Po river, but with weaker value with respect to the 2017 anomaly map.

'''Short description:''' For the Mediterranean Sea - The product contains daily Level-3 sea surface wind with a 1km horizontal pixel spacing using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) observations and their collocated European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model outputs. Products are processed homogeneously starting from the L2OCN products. '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/mds-00342

'''This product has been archived''' For operationnal and online products, please visit https://marine.copernicus.eu '''Short description:''' The Global Ocean Satellite monitoring and marine ecosystem study group (GOS) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), in Rome operationally distributes Remote Sensing Reflectances (Rrs) and diffuse attenuation coefficient of light at 490 nm (kd490) data. These datasets derived from Rrs multi-sensor (MODIS-AQUA, NOAA20-VIIRS, NPP-VIIRS, Sentinel3A-OLCI) spectra at the state-of-the-art algorithms for multi-sensor merging. Single sensor Rrs fields are band-shifted, over the SeaWiFS native bands (using the QAAv6 model, Lee et al., 2002) and merged with a technique aimed at smoothing the differences among different sensors. Reprocessed (multi-year) products are consistent and homogeneous in terms of format, algorithms and processing software. Rrs is defined as the ratio of upwelling radiance and downwelling irradiance at any wavelength (412, 443, 490, 555, and 670 nm). Kd490 is defined as the diffuse attenuation coefficient of light at 490 nm, and is a measure of the turbidity of the water column, i.e., how visible light in the blue-green region of the spectrum penetrates within the water column. It is directly related to the presence of scattering particles in the water column and is estimated through the ratio between Rrs at 490 and 555 nm. Kd490 is achieved via Mediterranean regional algorithm developed by GOS on the basis of MedBiOp in situ dataset (Volpe et al., 2019). The current day data temporal consistency is evaluated as Quality Index (QI): QI=(CurrentDataPixel-ClimatologyDataPixel)/STDDataPixel where QI is the difference between current data and the relevant climatological field as a signed multiple of climatological standard deviations (STDDataPixel). Inherent Optical Properties (aph443, adg443 and bbp443 at 443nm) are derived via QAAv6 model. '''Processing information:''' Multi-sensor product is constituted by MODIS-AQUA, NOAA20-VIIRS, NPP-VIIRS and Sentinel3A-OLCI. For consistency with NASA L2 dataset, BRDF correction was applied to Sentinel3A-OLCI prior to band shifting and multi sensor merging. Single sensor NASA Level-2 data are destriped and then all Level-2 data are remapped at 1 km spatial resolution using cylindrical equirectangular projection. Afterwards, single sensor Rrs fields are band-shifted, over the SeaWiFS native bands (using the QAAv6 model, Lee et al., 2002) and merged with a technique aimed at smoothing the differences among different sensors. This technique is developed by The Global Ocean Satellite monitoring and marine ecosystem study group (GOS) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR, Rome). Then geophysical fields (i.e. chlorophyll and kd490, bbp, aph and adg) are estimated via state-of-the-art algorithms for better product quality. The entire data set is consistent and processed in one-shot mode (with an unique software version and identical configurations). '''Description of observation methods/instruments:''' Ocean colour technique exploits the emerging electromagnetic radiation from the sea surface in different wavelengths. The spectral variability of this signal defines the so-called ocean colour which is affected by the presence of phytoplankton. '''Quality / Accuracy / Calibration information:''' A detailed description of the calibration and validation activities performed over this product can be found on the CMEMS web portal. '''Suitability, Expected type of users / uses:''' This product is meant for use for educational purposes and for the managing of the marine safety, marine resources, marine and coastal environment and for climate and seasonal studies. '''Dataset names:''' * dataset-oc-med-opt-multi-l3-rrs412_1km_daily-rep-v02 * dataset-oc-med-opt-multi-l3-rrs443_1km_daily-rep-v02 * dataset-oc-med-opt-multi-l3-rrs490_1km_daily-rep-v02 * dataset-oc-med-opt-multi-l3-rrs510_1km_daily-rep-v02 * dataset-oc-med-opt-multi-l3-rrs555_1km_daily-rep-v02 * dataset-oc-med-opt-multi-l3-rrs670_1km_daily-rep-v02 * dataset-oc-med-opt-multi-l3-kd490_1km_daily-rep-v02 * dataset-oc-med-opt-multi-l3-bbp443_1km_daily-rep-v02 * dataset-oc-med-opt-multi-l3-adg443_1km_daily-rep-v02 * dataset-oc-med-opt-multi-l3-aph443_1km_daily-rep-v02 '''Files format:''' *CF-1.4 *INSPIRE compliant '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00116

'''DEFINITION''' The Mediterranean water mass formation rates are evaluated in 4 areas as defined in the Ocean State Report issue 2 (OSR2, von Schuckmann et al., 2018) section 3.4 (Simoncelli and Pinardi, 2018): (1) the Gulf of Lions for the Western Mediterranean Deep Waters (WMDW); (2) the Southern Adriatic Sea Pit for the Eastern Mediterranean Deep Waters (EMDW); (3) the Cretan Sea for Cretan Intermediate Waters (CIW) and Cretan Deep Waters (CDW); (4) the Rhodes Gyre, the area of formation of the so-called Levantine Intermediate Waters (LIW) and Levantine Deep Waters (LDW). Annual water mass formation rates have been computed using daily mixed layer depth estimates (density criteria Δσ = 0.01 kg/m3, 10 m reference level) considering the annual maximum volume of water above mixed layer depth with potential density within or higher the specific thresholds specified in Table 1 then divided by seconds per year. Annual mean values are provided using the Mediterranean 1/24o eddy resolving reanalysis (Escudier et al. 2020, 2021). Time spans from 1987 to the year preceding the current one [-1Y], operationally extended yearly. '''CONTEXT''' The formation of intermediate and deep water masses is one of the most important processes occurring in the Mediterranean Sea, being a component of its general overturning circulation. This circulation varies at interannual and multidecadal time scales and it is composed of an upper zonal cell (Zonal Overturning Circulation) and two main meridional cells in the western and eastern Mediterranean (Pinardi and Masetti 2000). The objective is to monitor the main water mass formation events using the eddy resolving Mediterranean Sea Reanalysis (MEDSEA_MULTIYEAR_PHY_006_004, Escudier et al. 2020, 2021) and considering Pinardi et al. (2015) and Simoncelli and Pinardi (2018) as references for the methodology. The Mediterranean Sea Reanalysis can reproduce both Eastern Mediterranean Transient and Western Mediterranean Transition phenomena and catches the principal water mass formation events reported in the literature. This will permit constant monitoring of the open ocean deep convection process in the Mediterranean Sea and a better understanding of the multiple drivers of the general overturning circulation at interannual and multidecadal time scales. Deep and intermediate water formation events reveal themselves by a deep mixed layer depth distribution in four Mediterranean areas: Gulf of Lions, Southern Adriatic Sea Pit, Cretan Sea and Rhodes Gyre. '''KEY FINDINGS''' The Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW) formation events in the Gulf of Lion appear to be larger after 1999 consistently with Schroeder et al. (2006, 2008) related to the Eastern Mediterranean Transient event. This modification of WMDW after 2005 has been called Western Mediterranean Transition. WMDW formation events are consistent with Somot et al. (2016) and the event in 2009 is also reported in Houpert et al. (2016). The Eastern Mediterranean Deep Water (EMDW) formation in the Southern Adriatic Pit region displays a period of water mass formation between 1988 and 1993, in agreement with Pinardi et al. (2015), in 1996, 1999 and 2000 as documented by Manca et al. (2002). Weak deep water formation in winter 2006 is confirmed by observations in Vilibić and Šantić (2008). An intense deep water formation event is detected in 2012-2013 (Gačić et al., 2014). Last years are characterized by large events starting from 2017 (Mihanovic et al., 2021). Cretan Intermediate Water formation rates present larger peaks between 1989 and 1993 with the ones in 1992 and 1993 composing the Eastern Mediterranean Transient phenomena. The Cretan Deep Water formed in 1992 and 1993 is characterized by the highest densities of the entire period in accordance with Velaoras et al. (2014). The Levantine Deep Water formation rate in the Rhode Gyre region presents the largest values between 1992 and 1993 in agreement with Kontoyiannis et al. (1999). '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/mds-00318

'''DEFINITION''' Time mean meridional Eulerian streamfunctions are computed using the velocity field estimate provided by the Copernicus Marine Mediterranean Sea reanalysis over the period from 1987 to the year preceding the current one [-1Y], operationally extended yearly. The Eulerian meridional streamfunction is evaluated by integrating meridional velocity daily data first in a vertical direction, then in a meridional direction, and finally averaging over the reanalysis period. The Mediterranean overturning indices are derived for the eastern and western Mediterranean Sea by computing the annual streamfunction in the two areas separated by the Strait of Sicily around 36.5°N, and then considering the associated maxima. In each case a geographical constraint focused the computation on the main region of interest. For the western index, we focused on deep-water formation regions, thus excluding both the effect of shallow physical processes and the Gibraltar net inflow. For the eastern index, we investigate the Levantine and Cretan areas corresponding to the strongest meridional overturning cell locations, thus only a zonal constraint is defined. Time series of annual mean values is provided for the Mediterranean Sea using the Mediterranean 1/24o eddy resolving reanalysis (Escudier et al., 2020, 2021). More details can be found in the Copernicus Marine Ocean State Report issue 4 (OSR4, von Schuckmann et al., 2020) Section 2.4 (Lyubartsev et al., 2020) and in the QUID. '''CONTEXT''' The western and eastern Mediterranean clockwise meridional overturning circulation is connected to deep-water formation processes. The Mediterranean Sea 1/24o eddy resolving reanalysis (MEDSEA_MULTIYEAR_PHY_006_004, Escudier et al., 2020, 2021) is used to show the interannual variability of the Meridional Overturning Index. Details on the product are delivered in the PUM and QUID of this OMI. The Mediterranean Meridional Overturning Index is defined here as the maxima of the clockwise cells in the eastern and western Mediterranean Sea and is associated with deep and intermediate water mass formation processes that occur in specific areas of the basin: Gulf of Lion, Southern Adriatic Sea, Cretan Sea and Rhodes Gyre (Pinardi et al., 2015). As in the global ocean, the overturning circulation of the western and eastern Mediterranean are paramount to determine the stratification of the basins (Cessi, 2019). In turn, the stratification and deep water formation mediate the exchange of oxygen and other tracers between the surface and the deep ocean (e.g., Johnson et al., 2009; Yoon et al., 2018). In this sense, the overturning indices are potential gauges of the ecosystem health of the Mediterranean Sea, and in particular they could instruct early warning indices for the Mediterranean Sea to support the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 Target 13.3. '''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS''' The western and eastern Mediterranean overturning indices (WMOI and EMOI) are synthetic indices of changes in the thermohaline properties of the Mediterranean basin related to changes in the main drivers of the basin scale circulation. The western sub-basin clockwise overturning circulation is associated with the deep-water formation area of the Gulf of Lion, while the eastern clockwise meridional overturning circulation is composed of multiple cells associated with different intermediate and deep-water sources in the Levantine, Aegean, and Adriatic Seas. On average, the EMOI shows higher values than the WMOI indicating a more vigorous overturning circulation in eastern Mediterranean. The difference is mostly related to the occurrence of the eastern Mediterranean transient (EMT) climatic event, and linked to a peak of the EMOI in 1992 (Roether et al. 1996, 2014, Gertman et al. 2006). In 1999, the difference between the two indices started to decrease because EMT water masses reached the Sicily Strait flowing into the western Mediterranean Sea (Schroeder et al., 2016). The western peak in 2006 is discussed to be linked to anomalous deep-water formation during the Western Mediterranean Transition (Smith, 2008; Schroeder et al., 2016). Thus, the WMOI and EMOI indices are a useful tool for long-term climate monitoring of overturning changes in the Mediterranean Sea. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/mds-00317