'''DEFINITION''' The OMI_EXTREME_SST_NORTHWESTSHELF_sst_mean_and_anomaly_obs indicator is based on the computation of the 99th and the 1st percentiles from in situ data (observations). It is computed for the variable sea surface temperature measured by in situ buoys at depths between 0 and 5 meters. The use of percentiles instead of annual maximum and minimum values, makes this extremes study less affected by individual data measurement errors. The percentiles are temporally averaged, and the spatial evolution is displayed, jointly with the anomaly in the target year. This study of extreme variability was first applied to sea level variable (Pérez Gómez et al 2016) and then extended to other essential variables, sea surface temperature and significant wave height (Pérez Gómez et al 2018). '''CONTEXT''' Sea surface temperature (SST) is one of the essential ocean variables affected by climate change (mean SST trends, SST spatial and interannual variability, and extreme events). In Europe, several studies show warming trends in mean SST for the last years (von Schuckmann, 2016; IPCC, 2021, 2022). An exception seems to be the North Atlantic, where, in contrast, anomalous cold conditions have been observed since 2014 (Mulet et al., 2018; Dubois et al. 2018; IPCC 2021, 2022). Extremes may have a stronger direct influence in population dynamics and biodiversity. According to Alexander et al. 2018 the observed warming trend will continue during the 21st Century and this can result in exceptionally large warm extremes. Monitoring the evolution of sea surface temperature extremes is, therefore, crucial. The North-West Self area comprises part of the North Atlantic, where this refreshing trend has been observed, and the North Sea, where a warming trend has been taking place in the last three decades (e.g. Høyer and Karagali, 2016). '''COPERNICUS MARINE SERVICE KEY FINDINGS''' The mean 99th percentiles showed in the area present a range from 14-15ºC in the North of the British Isles, 16-19ºC in the West of the North Sea to 19-20ºC in the Helgoland Bight. The standard deviation ranges from 0.7-0.8ºC in the North of the British Isles, 0.6-2ºC in the West of the North Sea to 0.8-3ºC in in the Helgoland Bight. Results for this year show positive moderate anomalies (+0.3/+1.0ºC) in all the positions except in one station in the West of the Noth Sea where the anomaly is negative (-0.3ºC), all of them inside the standard deviation margin. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00274

'''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

'''Short description:''' The NWSHELF_ANALYSISFORECAST_PHY_LR_004_001 is produced by a coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model system with tides, implemented over the North East Atlantic and Shelf Seas at 7 km of horizontal resolution and 24 vertical levels. The product is updated daily, providing 7-day forecast for temperature, salinity, currents, sea level and mixed layer depth. Products are provided at quarter-hourly, hourly, daily de-tided (with Doodson filter), and monthly frequency. '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/mds-00367

'''DEFINITION''' The indicator of Volume Transport Anomaly in Selected Vertical Sections in the Iberia–Biscay–Ireland (IBI) region (OMI_CIRCULATION_VOLTRANS_IBI_section_integrated_anomalies) is defined as the time series of annual mean volume transport calculated across a set of vertical ocean sections. These sections have been selected to represent the temporal variability of key ocean currents within the IBI domain. The monitored ocean currents include the transport towards the North Sea through the Rockall Trough (RTE) (Holliday et al., 2008; Lozier and Stewart, 2008), the Canary Current (CC) (Knoll et al., 2002; Mason et al., 2011), the Azores Current (AC) (Mason et al., 2011), the Algerian Current (ALG) (Tintoré et al., 1988; Benzohra and Millot, 1995; Font et al., 1998), and the net transport along the 48° N latitude parallel (N48) (see OMI figure). To produce ensemble-based results, six datasets provided by the Copernicus Marine Service have been used: * '''IBI-REA''' & '''IBI-INT''': IBI_MULTIYEAR_PHY_005_002 (reanalysis and interim datasets) * '''GLO-REA''': GLOBAL_MULTIYEAR_PHY_001_030 (reanalysis) * '''ARMOR''': MULTIOBS_GLO_PHY_TSUV_3D_MYNRT_015_012 (reprocessed observations) * '''MED-REA''': MEDSEA_MULTIYEAR_PHY_006_004 (reanalysis) * '''NWS-REA''': NWSHELF_MULTIYEAR_PHY_004_009 (reanalysis) The time series displays the ensemble mean (blue line), the ensemble spread (grey shaded area), and the mean transport with reversed sign (red dashed line), which indicates the threshold of anomaly values corresponding to a reversal in the direction of the current transport. In addition, the trend analysis at the 95% confidence level is shown in the bottom-right corner of each diagram. Further details on the product are provided in the corresponding Product User Manual (de Pascual-Collar et al., 2026a) and Quality Information Document (de Pascual-Collar et al., 2026b), as well as in de Pascual-Collar et al., 2024. '''CONTEXT''' The IBI area is a highly complex region characterized by a remarkable variety of ocean currents. Among them, we can highlight those that originate as a result of the closure of the North Atlantic Drift (Mason et al., 2011; Holliday et al., 2008; Peliz et al., 2007; Bower et al., 2002; Knoll et al., 2002; Pérez et al., 2001; Jia, 2000); the subsurface currents flowing northward along the continental slope (de Pascual-Collar et al., 2019; Pascual et al., 2018; Machín et al., 2010; Fricourt et al., 2007; Knoll et al., 2002; Mazé et al., 1997; White & Bowyer, 1997); and the exchange currents occurring in the Strait of Gibraltar and the Alboran Sea (Sotillo et al., 2016; Font et al., 1998; Benzohra & Millot, 1995; Tintoré et al., 1988). The variability of ocean currents in the IBI domain is relevant to the global thermohaline circulation and other climatic and environmental processes. For example, as discussed by Fasullo and Trenberth (2008), subtropical gyres play a crucial role in the meridional energy balance. The poleward salt transport of Mediterranean water, driven by subsurface slope currents, has significant implications for salinity anomalies in the Rockall Trough and the Nordic Seas, as studied by Holliday (2003), Holliday et al. (2008), and Bozec et al. (2011). The Algerian Current serves as the only pathway for Atlantic Water to reach the Western Mediterranean. '''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS''' The volume transport time series reveal periods during which the monitored currents exhibited notably high or low variability. Specifically, the RTE current shows pronounced variability in 2010 and during 2014–2015; the N48 section between 2012 and 2014; the ALG current in 2006 and 2017; the AC current between 2005–2007 and in 2021; and the CC current between 2005–2007. Furthermore, certain periods display anomalies of sufficient magnitude (in absolute value) to indicate a reversal in the net transport direction of the current. This is the case for the ALG current in 2017 and 2024 (with net transport towards the west), and for the CC current in 2010 (with net transport towards the north). Trend analysis over the period 1993–2023 does not reveal any statistically significant trends for the monitored currents. However, the confidence interval for the trend in the ALG section is close to rejecting the null hypothesis of no trend. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/mds-00351

'''This product has been archived''' For operationnal and online products, please visit https://marine.copernicus.eu '''Short description:''' For the Global ocean, the ESA Ocean Colour CCI surface Chlorophyll (mg m-3, 4 km resolution) using the OC-CCI recommended chlorophyll algorithm is made available in CMEMS format. L3 products are daily files, while the L4 are monthly composites. ESA-CCI data are provided by Plymouth Marine Laboratory at 4km resolution. These are processed using the same in-house software as in the operational processing. Standard masking criteria for detecting clouds or other contamination factors have been applied during the generation of the Rrs, i.e., land, cloud, sun glint, atmospheric correction failure, high total radiance, large solar zenith angle (actually a high air mass cutoff, but approximating to 70deg zenith), coccolithophores, negative water leaving radiance, and normalized water leaving radiance at 555 nm 0.15 Wm-2 sr-1 (McClain et al., 1995). 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. By comparing reflectances at different wavelengths and calibrating the result against in-situ measurements, an estimate of chlorophyll content can be derived. A detailed description of calibration & validation is given in the relevant QUID, associated validation reports and quality documentation. '''Processing information:''' ESA-CCI data are provided by Plymouth Marine Laboratory at 4km resolution. These are processed using the same in-house software as in the operational processing. The entire CCI data set is consistent and processing is done in one go. Both OC CCI and the REP product are versioned. Standard masking criteria for detecting clouds or other contamination factors have been applied during the generation of the Rrs, i.e., land, cloud, sun glint, atmospheric correction failure, high total radiance, large solar zenith angle (actually a high air mass cutoff, but approximating to 70deg zenith), coccolithophores, negative water leaving radiance, and normalized water leaving radiance at 555 nm 0.15 Wm-2 sr-1 (McClain et al., 1995). '''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. By comparing reflectances at different wavelengths and calibrating the result against in-situ measurements, an estimate of chlorophyll content can be derived. '''Quality / Accuracy / Calibration information:''' Detailed description of cal/val is given in the relevant QUID, associated validation reports and quality documentation. '''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. '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00101

'''DEFINITION''' The indicator of the Kuroshio extension phase variations is based on the standardized high frequency altimeter Eddy Kinetic Energy (EKE) averaged in the area 142-149°E and 32-37°N and computed from the DUACS delayed-time (CMEMS SEALEVEL_GLO_PHY_L4_MY_008_047) and near real-time (CMEMS SEALEVEL_GLO_PHY_L4_NRT _008_046) altimeter sea level gridded products. ""CONTEXT"" The Kuroshio Extension is an eastward-flowing current in the subtropical western North Pacific after the Kuroshio separates from the coast of Japan at 35°N, 140°E. Being the extension of a wind-driven western boundary current, the Kuroshio Extension is characterized by a strong variability and is rich in large-amplitude meanders and energetic eddies (Niiler et al., 2003; Qiu, 2003, 2002). The Kuroshio Extension region has the largest sea surface height variability on sub-annual and decadal time scales in the extratropical North Pacific Ocean (Jayne et al., 2009; Qiu and Chen, 2010, 2005). Prediction and monitoring of the path of the Kuroshio are of huge importance for local economies as the position of the Kuroshio extension strongly determines the regions where phytoplankton and hence fish are located. Unstable (contracted) phase of the Kuroshio enhance the production of Chlorophyll (Lin et al., 2014). ""CMEMS KEY FINDINGS"" The different states of the Kuroshio extension phase have been presented and validated by (Bessières et al., 2013) and further reported by Drévillon et al. (2018) in the Copernicus Ocean State Report #2. Two rather different states of the Kuroshio extension are observed: an ‘elongated state’ (also called ‘strong state’) corresponding to a narrow strong steady jet, and a ‘contracted state’ (also called ‘weak state’) in which the jet is weaker and more unsteady, spreading on a wider latitudinal band. When the Kuroshio Extension jet is in a contracted (elongated) state, the upstream Kuroshio Extension path tends to become more (less) variable and regional eddy kinetic energy level tends to be higher (lower). In between these two opposite phases, the Kuroshio extension jet has many intermediate states of transition and presents either progressively weakening or strengthening trends. In 2018, the indicator reveals an elongated state followed by a weakening neutral phase since then. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00222

'''DEFINITION''' The OMI_EXTREME_SL_IBI_slev_mean_and_anomaly_obs indicator is based on the computation of the 99th and the 1st percentiles from in situ data (observations). It is computed for the variable sea level measured by tide gauges along the coast. The use of percentiles instead of annual maximum and minimum values, makes this extremes study less affected by individual data measurement errors. The annual percentiles referred to annual mean sea level are temporally averaged and their spatial evolution is displayed in the dataset omi_extreme_sl_ibi_slev_mean_and_anomaly_obs, jointly with the anomaly in the target year. This study of extreme variability was first applied to sea level variable (Pérez Gómez et al 2016) and then extended to other essential variables, sea surface temperature and significant wave height (Pérez Gómez et al 2018). '''CONTEXT''' Sea level (SLEV) is one of the Essential Ocean Variables most affected by climate change. Global mean sea level rise has accelerated since the 1990’s (Abram et al., 2019, Legeais et al., 2020), due to the increase of ocean temperature and mass volume caused by land ice melting (WCRP, 2018). Basin scale oceanographic and meteorological features lead to regional variations of this trend that combined with changes in the frequency and intensity of storms could also rise extreme sea levels up to one meter by the end of the century (Vousdoukas et al., 2020, Tebaldi et al., 2021). This will significantly increase coastal vulnerability to storms, with important consequences on the extent of flooding events, coastal erosion and damage to infrastructures caused by waves (Boumis et al., 2023). The increase in extreme sea levels over recent decades is, therefore, primarily due to the rise in mean sea level. Note, however, that the methodology used to compute this OMI removes the annual 50th percentile, thereby discarding the mean sea level trend to isolate changes in storminess. The Iberian Biscay Ireland region shows positive sea level trend modulated by decadal-to-multidecadal variations driven by ocean dynamics and superposed to the long-term trend (Chafik et al., 2019). '''COPERNICUS MARINE SERVICE KEY FINDINGS''' The completeness index criteria is fulfilled by 62 stations in 2023, five more than those available in 2022 (57), recently added to the multi-year product INSITU_GLO_PHY_SSH_DISCRETE_MY_013_053. The mean 99th percentiles reflect the great tide spatial variability around the UK and the north of France. Minimum values are observed in the Irish eastern coast (e.g.: 0.66 m above mean sea level in Arklow Harbour) and the Canary Islands (e.g.: 0.93 and 0.96 m above mean sea level in Gomera and Hierro, respectively). Maximum values are observed in the Bristol Channel (e.g.: 6.25 and 5.78 m above mean sea level in Newport and Hinkley, respectively), and in the English Channel (e.g.: 5.16 m above mean sea level in St. Helier). The annual 99th percentiles standard deviation reflects the south-north increase of storminess, ranging between 1-3 cm in the Canary Islands to 15 cm in Hinkley (Bristol Channel). Negative or close to zero anomalies of 2023 99th percentile prevail throughout the region this year, reaching < -20 cm in several stations of the UK western coast and the English Channel (e.g.: -22 cm in Newport; -21 cm in St.Helier). Significantly positive anomaly of 2023 99th percentile is only found in Arcklow Harbour, in the eastern Irish coast. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00253

'''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) provided by the ESA Ocean Colour Climate Change Initiative (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 North Atlantic region these changes present a distinct seasonality and are mostly determined by light and nutrient availability (González Taboada et al., 2014). By comparing annual mean values to a climatology, we effectively remove the seasonal signal at each grid point, while retaining information on potential events during the year (Gregg and Rousseaux, 2014). In particular, North Atlantic anomalies can then be correlated with oscillations in the Northern Hemisphere Temperature (Raitsos et al., 2014). Chlorophyll anomalies also provide information on the status of the North Atlantic oligotrophic gyre, where evidence of rapid gyre expansion has been found for the 1997-2012 period (Polovina et al. 2008, Aiken et al., 2017, Sathyendranath et al., 2018b). '''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS:''' The average chlorophyll anomaly in the North Atlantic is -0.02 log10(mg m-3), with a maximum value of 1.0 log10(mg m-3) and a minimum value of -1.0 log10(mg m-3). That is to say that, in average, the annual 2019 mean value is slightly lower (96%) than the 1997-2014 climatological value. A moderate increase in chlorophyll concentration was observed in 2019 over the Bay of Biscay and regions close to Iceland and Greenland, such as the Irminger Basin and the Denmark Strait. In particular, the annual average values for those areas are around 160% of the 1997-2014 average (anomalies > 0.2 log10(mg m-3)). While the significant negative anomalies reported for 2016-2017 (Sathyendranath et al., 2018c) in the area west of the Ireland and Scotland coasts continued to manifest, the Irish and North Seas returned to their normative regime during 2019, with anomalies close to zero. A change in the anomaly sign (positive to negative) was also detected for the West European Basin, with annual values as low as 60% of the 1997-2014 average. This reduction in chlorophyll might be matched with negative anomalies in sea level during the period, indicating a dominance of upwelling factors over stratification.

"'Short description:''' The High-Resolution Ocean Colour (HR-OC) Consortium (Brockmann Consult, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Flemish Institute for Technological Research) distributes Level 4 (L4) Turbidity (TUR, expressed in FNU), Solid Particulate Matter Concentration (SPM, expressed in mg/l), particulate backscattering at 443nm (BBP443, expressed in m-1) and chlorophyll-a concentration (CHL, expressed in µg/l) for the Sentinel 2/MSI sensor at 100m resolution for a 20km coastal zone. The products are delivered on a geographic lat-lon grid (EPSG:4326). BBP443, constitute the category of the 'optics' products. The BBP443 product is generated from the L3 RRS products using a quasi-analytical algorithm (Lee et al. 2002). he 'tur_tsm_chl' products include TUR, SPM and CHL. They are retrieved through the application of automated switching algorithms to the RRS spectra adapted to varying water conditions (Novoa et al. 2017). The GEOPHYSICAL product consists of the Chlorophyll-a concentration (CHL) retrieved via a multi-algorithm approach with optimized quality flagging (O'Reilly et al. 2019, Gons et al. 2005, Lavigne et al. 2021). Monthly products (P1M) are temporal aggregates of the daily L3 products. Daily products contain gaps in cloudy areas and where there is no overpass at the respective day. Aggregation collects the non-cloudy (and non-frozen) contributions to each pixel. Contributions are averaged per variable. While this does not guarantee data availability in all pixels in case of persistent clouds, it provides a more complete product compared to the sparsely filled daily products. The Monthly L4 products (P1M) are generally provided withing 4 days after the last acquisition date of the month. Daily gap filled L4 products (P1D) are generated using the DINEOF (Data Interpolating Empirical Orthogonal Functions) approach which reconstructs missing data in geophysical datasets by using a truncated Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) basis in an iterative approach. DINEOF reconstructs missing data in a geophysical dataset by extracting the main patterns of temporal and spatial variability from the data. While originally designed for low resolution data products, recent research has resulted in the optimization of DINEOF to handle high resolution data provided by Sentinel-2 MSI, including cloud shadow detection (Alvera-Azcárate et al., 2021). These types of L4 products are generated and delivered one month after the respective period. '''Processing information:''' The HR-OC processing system is deployed on Creodias where Sentinel 2/MSI L1C data are available. The production control element is being hosted within the infrastructure of Brockmann Consult. The processing chain consists of: * Resampling to 60m and mosaic generation of the set of Sentinel-2 MSI L1C granules of a single overpass that cover a single UTM zone. * Application of a glint correction taking into account the detector viewing angles * Application of a coastal mask with 20km water + 20km land. The result is a L1C mosaic tile with data just in the coastal area optimized for compression. * Level 2 processing with pixel identification (IdePix), atmospheric correction (C2RCC and ACOLITE or iCOR), in-water processing and merging (HR-OC L2W processor). The result is a 60m product with the same extent as the L1C mosaic, with variables for optics, transparency, and geophysics, and with data filled in the water part of the coastal area. * invalid pixel identification takes into account corrupted (L1) pixels, clouds, cloud shadow, glint, dry-fallen intertidal flats, coastal mixed-pixels, sea ice, melting ice, floating vegetation, non-water objects, and bottom reflection. * Daily L3 aggregation merges all Level 2 mosaics of a day intersecting with a target tile. All valid water pixels are included in the 20km coastal stripes; all other values are set to NaN. There may be more than a single overpass a day, in particular in the northern regions. This step comprises resampling to the 100m target grid. * Monthly L4 aggregation combines all Level 3 products of a month and a single tile. The output is a set of 3 NetCDF datasets for (1) optics and (2) turbidity, suspended matter and chlorophyll concentration, respectively for the month. * Gap filling combines all daily products of a period and generates (partially) gap-filled daily products again. The output of gap filling are 2 datasets for (1) optics (BBP443 only) and (2) turbidity, suspended mattr and chlorophyll concentration per day. '''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 and in CMEMS-BGP_HR-QUID-009-201_to_212. '''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: ''' *cmems_obs_oc_med_bgc_tur_spm_chl_nrt_l4-hr-mosaic_P1M-v01 *cmems_obs_oc_med_bgc_optics_nrt_l4-hr-mosaic_P1M-v01 *cmems_obs_oc_med_bgc_tur_spm_chl_nrt_l4-hr-mosaic_P1D-v01 *cmems_obs_oc_med_bgc_optics_nrt_l4-hr-mosaic_P1D-v01 '''Files format:''' *netCDF-4, CF-1.7 *INSPIRE compliant." '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00110

'''DEFINITION''' The OMI_EXTREME_SST_IBI_sst_mean_and_anomaly_obs indicator is based on the computation of the 99th and the 1st percentiles from in situ data (observations). It is computed for the variable sea surface temperature measured by in situ buoys at depths between 0 and 5 meters. The use of percentiles instead of annual maximum and minimum values, makes this extremes study less affected by individual data measurement errors. The percentiles are temporally averaged, and the spatial evolution is displayed, jointly with the anomaly in the target year. This study of extreme variability was first applied to sea level variable (Pérez Gómez et al 2016) and then extended to other essential variables, sea surface temperature and significant wave height (Pérez Gómez et al 2018). '''CONTEXT''' Sea surface temperature (SST) is one of the essential ocean variables affected by climate change (mean SST trends, SST spatial and interannual variability, and extreme events). In Europe, several studies show warming trends in mean SST for the last years (von Schuckmann, 2016; IPCC, 2021, 2022). An exception seems to be the North Atlantic, where, in contrast, anomalous cold conditions have been observed since 2014 (Mulet et al., 2018; Dubois et al. 2018; IPCC 2021, 2022). Extremes may have a stronger direct influence in population dynamics and biodiversity. According to Alexander et al. 2018 the observed warming trend will continue during the 21st Century and this can result in exceptionally large warm extremes. Monitoring the evolution of sea surface temperature extremes is, therefore, crucial. The Iberia Biscay Ireland area is characterized by a great complexity in terms of processes that take place in it. The sea surface temperature varies depending on the latitude with higher values to the South. In this area, the clear warming trend observed in other European Seas is not so evident. The northwest part is influenced by the refreshing trend in the North Atlantic, and a mild warming trend has been observed in the last decade (Pisano et al. 2020). '''COPERNICUS MARINE SERVICE KEY FINDINGS''' The mean 99th percentiles showed in the area present a range from 16-21ºC in the Southwest of the British Isles and the English Channel, 21-22ºC in the Galician Coast, 22-24ºC in the South of Bay of Biscay and the Gulf of Cadiz to 24.5ºC in the Canary Island. The standard deviations are between 0.6ºC and 1.8ºC in the Southwest of the British Isles and the English Channel and between 0.6ºC and 1.3ºC in the south of Bay of Biscay with a narrow margin in the rest of the areas (0.5-0.8ºC). Results for this year show a general positive anomaly in all the areas reaching +0.5ºC in the Gulf of Cadiz, and +1.3ºC in the Southwest of the British Isles and the English Channel inside the std margin in these areas. Only one coastal stations in the Irish Sea present a low negative anomaly (-0.4ºC). More significant are the positve anomalies found in the other areas: +1.2ºC in the South of Bay of Biscay +1.5º in the Canary Island, 2.2ºC in the Galician Coast, all of them out of the std margin of the respective areas. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00255