'''Short description:''' For the '''Mediterranean Sea''' Ocean '''Satellite Observations''', the Italian National Research Council (CNR – Rome, Italy), is providing '''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) * '''''transparency''''' with the diffuse attenuation coefficient of light at 490 nm (KD490) (for '''""multi'''"" observations achieved via region-specific algorithm, Volpe et al., 2019) * '''''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 '''""pp""''' data) '''Spatial resolutions''': 1 km for '''""multi""''' (4 km for '''""pp""''') and 300 meters for '''""olci""''' To find this product in the catalogue, use the search keyword '''""OCEANCOLOUR_MED_BGC_L4_NRT""'''. '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00298

'''This product has been archived''' For operationnal and online products, please visit https://marine.copernicus.eu '''Short description:''' The Global Ocean Satellite monitoring and marine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

'''Short description:''' This product provides daily (nighttime), gap-free (Level-4, L4) 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 (centered at 00:00 UTC) and is produced by the Italian National Research Council – Institute of Marine Sciences (CNR-ISMAR). Additionally, each daily SST L4 dataset, both HR and UHR, is accompanied by a corresponding anomaly L4 dataset, representing the daily SST anomaly computed using the 1991–2020 reference period, in accordance with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recommendations. L4 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. A two-step algorithm allows to interpolate SST data at high and ultra-high spatial resolution, applying statistical techniques (Buongiorno Nardelli et al., 2013; Buongiorno Nardelli et al., 2015). Additionally, from 2024 onwards, an improved first-guess field has been used in the generation of the MED UHR L4 data, enhancing the product's spatial resolution of SST features and the accuracy of SST gradients via machine learning techniques (Fanelli et al., 2024). '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00172

'''DEFINITION''' The CMEMS MEDSEA_OMI_seastate_extreme_var_swh_mean_and_anomaly OMI indicator is based on the computation of the annual 99th percentile of Significant Wave Height (SWH) from model data. Two different CMEMS products are used to compute the indicator: The Iberia-Biscay-Ireland Multi Year Product (MEDSEA_MULTIYEAR_WAV_006_012) and the Analysis product (MEDSEA_ANALYSIS_FORECAST_WAV_006_017). Two parameters have been considered for this OMI: * Map of the 99th mean percentile: It is obtained from the Multy Year Product, the annual 99th percentile is computed for each year of the product. The percentiles are temporally averaged in the whole period (1993-2019). * Anomaly of the 99th percentile in 2020: The 99th percentile of the year 2020 is computed from the Analysis product. The anomaly is obtained by subtracting the mean percentile to the percentile in 2020. This indicator is aimed at monitoring the extremes of annual significant wave height and evaluate the spatio-temporal variability. The use of percentiles instead of annual maxima, makes this extremes study less affected by individual data. This approach was first successfully applied to sea level variable (Pérez Gómez et al., 2016) and then extended to other essential variables, such as sea surface temperature and significant wave height (Pérez Gómez et al 2018 and Álvarez-Fanjul et al., 2019). Further details and in-depth scientific evaluation can be found in the CMEMS Ocean State report (Álvarez- Fanjul et al., 2019). '''CONTEXT''' The sea state and its related spatio-temporal variability affect maritime activities and the physical connectivity between offshore waters and coastal ecosystems, impacting therefore on the biodiversity of marine protected areas (González-Marco et al., 2008; Savina et al., 2003; Hewitt, 2003). Over the last decades, significant attention has been devoted to extreme wave height events since their destructive effects in both the shoreline environment and human infrastructures have prompted a wide range of adaptation strategies to deal with natural hazards in coastal areas (Hansom et al., 2014). Complementarily, there is also an emerging question about the role of anthropogenic global climate change on present and future extreme wave conditions. The Mediterranean Sea is an almost enclosed basin where the complexity of its orographic characteristics deeply influences the atmospheric circulation at local scale, giving rise to strong regional wind regimes (Drobinski et al. 2018). Therefore, since waves are primarily driven by winds, high waves are present over most of the Mediterranean Sea and tend to reach the highest values where strong wind and long fetch (i.e. the horizontal distance over which wave-generating winds blow) are simultaneously present (Lionello et al. 2006). Specifically, as seen in figure and in agreement with other studies (e.g. Sartini et al. 2017), the highest values (5 – 6 m in figure, top) extend from the Gulf of Lion to the southwestern Sardinia through the Balearic Sea and are sustained southwards approaching the Algerian coast. They result from northerly winds dominant in the western Mediterranean Sea (Mistral or Tramontana), that become stronger due to orographic effects (Menendez et al. 2014), and act over a large area. In the Ionian Sea, the northerly Mistral wind is still the main cause of high waves (4-5 m in figure, top). In the Aegean and Levantine Seas, high waves (4-5 m in figure, top) are caused by the northerly Bora winds, prevalent in winter, and the northerly Etesian winds, prevalent in summer (Lionello et al. 2006; Chronis et al. 2011; Menendez et al. 2014). In general, northerly winds are responsible for most high waves in the Mediterranean (e.g. Chronis et al. 2011; Menendez et al. 2014). In agreement with figure (top), studies on the eastern Mediterranean and the Hellenic Seas have found that the typical wave height range in the Aegean Sea is similar to the one observed in the Ionian Sea despite the shorter fetches characterizing the former basin (Zacharioudaki et al. 2015). This is because of the numerous islands in the Aegean Sea which cause wind funneling and enhance the occurrence of extreme winds and thus of extreme waves (Kotroni et al. 2001). Special mention should be made of the high waves, sustained throughout the year, observed east and west of the island of Crete, i.e. around the exiting points of the northerly airflow in the Aegean Sea (Zacharioudaki et al. 2015). This airflow is characterized by consistently high magnitudes that are sustained during all seasons in contrast to other airflows in the Mediterranean Sea that exhibit a more pronounced seasonality (Chronis et al. 2011). '''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS''' In 2020 (bottom panel), higher-than-average values of the 99th percentile of Significant Wave Height are seen over most of the northern Mediterranean Sea, in the eastern Alboran Sea, and along stretches of the African coast (Tunisia, Libya and Egypt). In many cases they exceed the climatic standard deviation. Regions where the climatic standard deviation is exceeded twice are the European and African coast of the eastern Alboran Sea, a considerable part of the eastern Spanish coast, the Ligurian Sea and part of the east coast of France as well as areas of the southern Adriatic. These anomalies correspond to the maximum positive anomalies computed in the Mediterranean Sea for year 2020 with values that reach up to 1.1 m. Spatially constrained maxima are also found at other coastal stretches (e.g. Algeri, southeast Sardinia). Part of the positive anomalies found along the French and Spanish coast, including the coast of the Balearic Islands, can be associated with the wind storm “Gloria” (19/1 – 24/1) during which exceptional eastern winds originated in the Ligurian Sea and propagated westwards. The storm, which was of a particularly high intensity and long duration, caused record breaking wave heights in the region, and, in return, great damage to the coast (Amores et al., 2020; de Alfonso et al., 2021). Other storms that could have contributed to the positive anomalies observed in the western Mediterranean Sea include: storm Karine (25/2 – 5/4), which caused high waves from the eastern coast of Spain to the Balearic Islands (Copernicus, Climate Change Service, 2020); storm Bernardo (7/11 – 18/11) which also affected the Balearic islands and the Algerian coast and; storm Hervé (2/2 – 8/2) during which the highest wind gust was recorded at north Corsica (Wikiwand, 2021). In the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the medicane Ianos (14/9 – 21/9) may have contributed to the positive anomalies shown in the central Ionian Sea since this area coincides with the area of peak wave height values during the medicane (Copernicus, 2020a and Copernicus, 2020b). Otherwise, higher-than-average values in the figure are the result of severe, yet not unusual, wind events, which occurred during the year. Negative anomalies occur over most of the southern Mediterranean Sea, east of the Alboran Sea. The maximum negative anomalies reach about -1 m and are located in the southeastern Ionian Sea and west of the south part of mainland Greece as well as in coastal locations of the north and east Aegean They appear to be quite unusual since they are greater than two times the climatic standard deviation in the region. They could imply less severe southerly wind activity during 2020 (Drobinski et al., 2018). Note: The key findings will be updated annually in November, in line with OMI evolutions. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00262

'''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

'''DEFINITION''' This product includes the Mediterranean Sea satellite chlorophyll trend map based on regional chlorophyll reprocessed (MY) product as distributed by CMEMS OC-TAC (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) (at 1 km resolution) 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). The trend map is obtained by applying Colella et al. (2016) methodology, where the Mann-Kendall test (Mann, 1945; Kendall, 1975) and Sens’s method (Sen, 1968) are applied on deseasonalized monthly time series, as obtained from the X-11 technique (see e. g. Pezzulli et al. 2005), to estimate, trend magnitude and its significance. The trend is expressed in % per year that represents the relative changes (i.e., percentage) corresponding to the dimensional trend [mg m-3 y-1] with respect to the reference climatology (1997-2014). Only significant trends (p < 0.05) are included. This OMI has been introduced since the 2nd issue of Ocean State Report in 2017. '''CONTEXT''' Phytoplankton are key actors in the carbon cycle and, as such, recognised as an Essential Climate Variable (ECV). 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). The Mediterranean Sea is an oligotrophic basin, where chlorophyll concentration decreases following a specific gradient from West to East (Colella et al. 2016). The highest concentrations are observed in coastal areas and at the river mouths, where the anthropogenic pressure and nutrient loads impact on the eutrophication regimes (Colella et al. 2016). The the use of long-term time series of consistent, well-calibrated, climate-quality data record is crucial for detecting eutrophication. Furthermore, chlorophyll analysis also demands the use of robust statistical temporal decomposition techniques, in order to separate the long-term signal from the seasonal component of the time series. '''KEY FINDINGS''' The chlorophyll trend in the Mediterranean Sea for the 1997–2024 period confirms the findings of the previous release, with predominantly negative values observed across most of the basin. On average, the region shows a trend of approximately -0.77% per year, slightly more negative than the overall trend reported previously. As in earlier assessments, weak positive trends persist in specific areas such as the northern Aegean Sea and the Sicily Channel. Compared to the 1997–2023 period, new positive trends are now evident in the Gulf of Lion. In contrast to the findings of Salgado-Hernanz et al. (2019), which were based on satellite observations from 1998 to 2014, this analysis does not reveal a distinct difference between the western and eastern Mediterranean basins. Notably, the Ligurian Sea now exhibits a negative trend, diverging from the positive trends identified by Colella et al. (2016) for the 1998–2009 period and by Salgado-Hernanz et al. (2019) for 1998–2014. Similarly, the waters of the Northern Adriatic Sea show weak positive trends, differing from the strong negative trend previously reported by Colella et al. (2016), and also representing a shift from the positive values observed by Salgado-Hernanz et al. (2019). '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00260

'''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, distributes Level-4 product including the daily interpolated chlorophyll field with no data voids starting from the multi-sensor (MODIS-Aqua, NOAA-20-VIIRS, NPP-VIIRS, Sentinel3A-OLCI), the monthly averaged chlorophyll concentration for the multi-sensor and climatological fields, all at 1 km resolution. Chlorophyll field are obtained by means of the Mediterranean regional algorithms: an updated version of the MedOC4 (Case 1 waters, Volpe et al., 2019, with new coefficients) and AD4 (Case 2 waters, Berthon and Zibordi, 2004). Discrimination between the two water types is performed by comparing the satellite spectrum with the average water type spectral signature from in situ measurements for both water types. Reference insitu dataset is MedBiOp (Volpe et al., 2019) where pure Case II spectra are selected using a k-mean cluster analysis (Melin et al., 2015). Merging of Case I and Case II information is performed estimating the Mahalanobis distance between the observed and reference spectra and using it as weight for the final merged value. The interpolated gap-free Level-4 Chl concentration is estimated by means of a modified version of the DINEOF algorithm by GOS (Volpe et al., 2018). DINEOF is an iterative procedure in which EOF are used to reconstruct the entire field domain. As first guess, it uses the SeaWiFS-derived daily climatological values at missing pixels and satellite observations at valid pixels. Monthly Level-4 dataset is the time averages of the L3 fields and includes the standard deviation and the number of observations in the monthly period of integration. SeaWiFS daily climatology provides reference for the calculation of Quality Indices (QI) for Chl observations. '''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) are estimated via state-of-the-art algorithms for better product quality. Level-4 includes both monthly time averages and the daily-interpolated fields. Time averages are computed on the delayed-time data. The interpolated product starts from the L3 products at 1 km resolution. At the first iteration, DINEOF procedure uses, as first guess for each of the missing pixels the relative daily climatological pixel. A procedure to smooth out spurious spatial gradients is applied to the daily merged image (observation and climatology). From the second iteration, the procedure uses, as input for the next one, the field obtained by the EOF calculation, using only a number of modes: that is, at the second round, only the first two modes, at the third only the first three, and so on. At each iteration, the same smoothing procedure is applied between EOF output and initial observations. The procedure stops when the variance explained by the current EOF mode exceeds that of noise. The entire data set is consistent and processed in one-shot mode (with an unique software version and identical configurations). For the climatology Rrs data are derived from the latest SeaWiFS NASA reprocessing (R2018.0) and converted to chlorophyll concentrations with the same algorithm as the one used for other L4 and/or L3 products. '''Description of observation methods/instruments:''' Ocean color technique exploits the emerging electromagnetic radiation from the sea surface in different wavelengths. The spectral variability of this signal defines the so called ocean color which is affected by the presence of phytoplankton. '''Quality / Accuracy / Calibration information:''' A detailed description of both the cal/val and a more in depth view of the method is given in QUID-009-038to045-071-073-078-079-095-096.pdf over Copernicus 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-chl-multi-l4-chl_1km_monthly-rep-v02 *dataset-oc-med-chl-multi-l4-interp_1km_daily-rep *dataset-oc-med-chl-seawifs-l4-chl_1km_daily-climatology-v02 '''Files format:''' *CF-1.4 *INSPIRE compliant. '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00114

'''Short description:''' Altimeter satellite along-track sea surface heights anomalies (SLA) computed with respect to a twenty-year [1993, 2012] mean. All the missions are homogenized with respect to a reference mission (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 Atmosphic Correction, Ocean Tides, Long Wavelength Errors) that can be used to change the physical content for specific needs This product is processed by the DUACS multimission altimeter data processing system. It serves in near-real time the main operational oceanography and climate forecasting centers in Europe and worldwide. It processes data from all altimeter missions: Jason-3, Sentinel-3A, HY-2A, Saral/AltiKa, Cryosat-2, Jason-2, Jason-1, T/P, ENVISAT, GFO, ERS1/2. It provides a consistent and homogeneous catalogue of products for varied applications, both for near real time applications and offline studies. To produce maps of SLA (Sea Level Anomalies) in near-real time, the system exploits the most recent datasets available based on the enhanced OGDR+IGDR production. The system acquires and then synchronizes altimeter data and auxiliary data; each mission is homogenized using the same models and corrections. The Input Data Quality Control checks that the system uses the best altimeter data. The multi-mission cross-calibration process removes any residual orbit error, or long wavelength error (LWE), as well as large scale biases and discrepancies between various data flows; all altimeter fields are interpolated at crossover locations and dates. After a repeat-track analysis, a mean profile, which is peculiar to each mission, or a Mean Sea Surface (MSS) (when the orbit is non repetitive) is subtracted to compute sea level anomaly. The MSS is available via the Aviso+ dissemination (http://www.aviso.altimetry.fr/en/data/products/auxiliary-products/mss.html [http://www.aviso.altimetry.fr/en/data/products/auxiliary-products/mss.html]). Data are then cross validated, filtered from residual noise and small scale signals, and finally sub-sampled (sla_filtered variable). The ADT (Absolute Dynamic Topography, adt_filtered variable) can computed as follows: adt_filtered=sla_filtered+MDT where MDT. The Mean Dynamic Topography distributed by Aviso+ (http://www.aviso.altimetry.fr/en/data/products/auxiliary-products/mdt.html [http://www.aviso.altimetry.fr/en/data/products/auxiliary-products/mdt.html]). '''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] 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.

'''This product has been archived''' For operationnal and online products, please visit https://marine.copernicus.eu '''DEFINITION''' The time series are derived from the regional chlorophyll reprocessed (REP) product as distributed by CMEMS. This dataset, derived from multi-sensor (SeaStar-SeaWiFS, AQUA-MODIS, NOAA20-VIIRS, NPP-VIIRS, Envisat-MERIS and Sentinel3A-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. (2021). 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. '''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). '''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS''' In the Mediterranean Sea, the trend average for the 1997-2020 period is slightly negative (-0.580.62% per year). Due to the change in processing techniques and chlorophyll retrieval, this trend estimate cannot be compared directly to those previously reported. The observations time series (in grey) shows minima values have been quite constant until 2015 and then there is a little decrease up to 2020, when an absolute minimum occurs with values lower than 0.04 mg m-3. Throughout the time series, maxima are variable year by year (with absolute maximum in 2015, >0.14 mg m-3), showing an evident reduction since 2016. In the last years of the series, the decrease of chlorophyll concentrations is also observed in the deseasonalized timeseries (in green) with a marked step in 2020. This attenuation of chlorophyll values in the last years results in an overall negative trend for the Mediterranean Sea. Note: The key findings will be updated annually in November, in line with OMI evolutions. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00259

'''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