'''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''' 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

'''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

'''This product has been archived''' For operationnal and online products, please visit https://marine.copernicus.eu '''Short description:''' For the European Ocean - Sea Surface Temperature Mono-Sensor L3 Observations. One SST file per 24h per area and per sensor (bias corrected) closest to the original resolution: SLSTR-A, AMSR2, SEVIRI, AVHRR_METOP_B, AVHRR18_G, AVHRR_19L, MODIS_A, MODIS_T, VIIRS_NPP. One SST file per file window per area and per sensor (bias corrected) closest to the original resolution , while still manageable in terms volume over the processed area. '''Description of observation methods/instruments:''' The METOP_B derived SSTs are not bias corrected because METOP_B is used as the reference sensor for the correction method. '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00162

'''Short description:''' For the Atlantic Ocean - 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-00339

'''This product has been archived''' For operationnal and online products, please visit https://marine.copernicus.eu '''Short description:''' For the European Ocean- The L3 multi-sensor (supercollated) product is built from bias-corrected L3 mono-sensor (collated) products at the resolution 0.02 degrees. If the native collated resolution is N and N < 0.02 the change (degradation) of resolution is done by averaging the best quality data. If N > 0.02 the collated data are associated to the nearest neighbour without interpolation nor artificial increase of the resolution. A synthesis of the bias-corrected L3 mono-sensor (collated) files remapped at resolution R is done through a selection of data based on the following hierarchy: AVHRR_METOP_B, VIIRS_NPP, SLSTRA, SEVIRI, AVHRRL-19, MODIS_A, MODIS_T, AMSR2. This hierarchy can be changed in time depending on the health of each sensor. '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00163

'''Short description:''' For the '''Mediterranean Sea''' Ocean '''Satellite Observations''', the Italian National Research Council (CNR – Rome, Italy), is providing multi-years '''Bio-Geo_Chemical (BGC)''' regional datasets: * '''''plankton''''' with the phytoplankton chlorophyll concentration (CHL) evaluated via region-specific algorithms (Case 1 waters: Volpe et al., 2019, with new coefficients; Case 2 waters, Berthon and Zibordi, 2004), and the interpolated '''gap-free''' Chl concentration (to provide a "cloud free" product) estimated by means of a modified version of the DINEOF algorithm (Volpe et al., 2018); moreover, daily climatology for chlorophyll concentration is provided. * '''''pp''''' with the Integrated Primary Production (PP). '''Upstreams''': SeaWiFS, MODIS, MERIS, VIIRS-SNPP & JPSS1, OLCI-S3A & S3B for the '''"multi"''' products, and OLCI-S3A & S3B for the '''"olci"''' products '''Temporal resolutions''': monthly and daily (for '''"gap-free"''' and climatology data) '''Spatial resolution''': 1 km for '''"multi"''' and 300 meters for '''"olci"''' To find this product in the catalogue, use the search keyword '''"OCEANCOLOUR_MED_BGC_L4_MY"'''. '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00300

'''Short description:''' The Mean Dynamic Topography MDT-CMEMS_2020_MED is an estimate of the mean over the 1993-2012 period of the sea surface height above geoid for the Mediterranean Sea. This is consistent with the reference time period also used in the SSALTO DUACS products '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00151

'''Short description:''' The Reprocessed (REP) Mediterranean (MED) dataset provides a stable and consistent long-term Sea Surface Temperature (SST) time series over the Mediterranean Sea (and the adjacent North Atlantic box) developed for climate applications. This product consists of daily (nighttime), optimally interpolated (L4), satellite-based estimates of the foundation SST (namely, the temperature free, or nearly-free, of any diurnal cycle) at 0.05° resolution grid covering the period from 1st January 1981 to present (approximately one month before real time). The MED-REP-L4 product is built from a consistent reprocessing of the collated level-3 (merged single-sensor, L3C) climate data record (CDR) v.3.0, provided by the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI) and covering the period up to 2021, and its interim extension (ICDR) that allows the regular temporal extension for 2022 onwards. '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00173

'''Short description:''' This product provides daily (nighttime), merged multi-sensor (Level-3S, L3S) maps of foundation Sea Surface Temperature (SST) - that is, the SST free from diurnal warming - over the Mediterranean Sea, at high (HR, 1/16°) and ultra-high (UHR, 1/100°) spatial resolutions, covering the period from 2008 to present. Each map represents nighttime SST values and is produced by the Italian National Research Council – Institute of Marine Sciences (CNR-ISMAR). L3S maps are generated by selecting only the highest-quality SST observations from upstream Level-2 (L2) data acquired within a short local nighttime window, in order to minimize cloud contamination and avoid the effects of the diurnal cycle. The main L2 sources currently ingested include SLSTR from Sentinel-3A and -3B, VIIRS from NOAA-21, NOAA-20, and Suomi-NPP, AVHRR from Metop-B and -C, and SEVIRI. These L3S data serve as input to an optimal interpolation procedure used to generate gap-free Level-4 (L4) SST fields, as implemented in product 010_004 (Buongiorno Nardelli et al., 2013). '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00171