iberian-biscay-irish-seas
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'''Short description:''' For the Atlantic Ocean - The product contains daily Level-3 sea surface wind with a 1km horizontal pixel spacing using Near Real-Time Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) observations and their collocated European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model outputs. Products are updated several times daily to provide the best product timeliness. '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/mds-00331
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'''DEFINITION''' The Copernicus Marine IBI_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 (IBI_MULTIYEAR_WAV_005_006) and the Analysis product (IBI_ANALYSISFORECAST_WAV_005_005). Two parameters have been considered for this OMI: * Map of the 99th mean percentile: It is obtained from the Multi-Year Product, the annual 99th percentile is computed for each year of the product. The percentiles are temporally averaged in the whole period (1980-2023). * Anomaly of the 99th percentile in 2024: The 99th percentile of the year 2024 is computed from the Analysis product. The anomaly is obtained by subtracting the mean percentile to the percentile in 2024. 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 dramatically 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., 2015). Complementarily, there is also an emerging question about the role of anthropogenic global climate change on present and future extreme wave conditions (Young and Ribal, 2019). The Iberia-Biscay-Ireland region, which covers the North-East Atlantic Ocean from Canary Islands to Ireland, is characterized by two different sea state wave climate regions: whereas the northern half, impacted by the North Atlantic subpolar front, is of one of the world’s greatest wave generating regions (Mørk et al., 2010; Folley, 2017), the southern half, located at subtropical latitudes, is by contrast influenced by persistent trade winds and thus by constant and moderate wave regimes. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), which refers to changes in the atmospheric sea level pressure difference between the Azores and Iceland, is a significant driver of wave climate variability in the Northern Hemisphere. The influence of North Atlantic Oscillation on waves along the Atlantic coast of Europe is particularly strong in and has a major impact on northern latitudes wintertime (Gleeson et al., 2017; Martínez-Asensio et al. 2016; Wolf et al., 2002; Bauer, 2001; Kushnir et al., 1997; Bouws et al., 1996; Bacon and Carter, 1991). Swings in the North Atlantic Oscillation index produce changes in the storms track and subsequently in the wind speed and direction over the Atlantic that alter the wave regime. When North Atlantic Oscillation index is in its positive phase, storms usually track northeast of Europe and enhanced westerly winds induce higher than average waves in the northernmost Atlantic Ocean. Conversely, in the negative North Atlantic Oscillation phase, the track of the storms is more zonal and south than usual, with trade winds (mid latitude westerlies) being slower and producing higher than average waves in southern latitudes (Marshall et al., 2001; Wolf et al., 2002; Wolf and Woolf, 2006). Additionally, a variety of previous studies have uniquevocally determined the relationship between the sea state variability in the IBI region and other atmospheric climate modes such as the East Atlantic pattern, the Arctic Oscillation, the East Atlantic Western Russian pattern and the Scandinavian pattern (Izaguirre et al., 2011, Martínez-Asensio et al., 2016). In this context, long‐term statistical analysis of reanalyzed model data is mandatory not only to disentangle other driving agents of wave climate but also to attempt inferring any potential trend in the number and/or intensity of extreme wave events in coastal areas with subsequent socio-economic and environmental consequences. '''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS''' The climatic mean of 99th percentile (1980-2023) reveals a north-south gradient of Significant Wave Height with the highest values in northern latitudes (above 8m) and lowest values (2-3 m) detected southeastward of Canary Islands, in the seas between Canary Islands and the African Continental Shelf. This north-south pattern is the result of the two climatic conditions prevailing in the region and previously described. The 99th percentile anomalies in 2024 show that during this period, virtually the entire IBI region was affected by positive anomalies in maximum SWH, which exceeded the standard deviation of the historical record in the waters west of the Iberian Peninsula, the Spanish coast of the Bay of Biscay, and the African coast south of Cape Ghir. Anomalies reaching twice the standard deviation of the time series were also observed in coastal regions of the English Channel. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00249
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'''This product has been archived''' For operationnal and online products, please visit https://marine.copernicus.eu '''Short description:''' The KD490 product identifies 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. This product is derived from OLCI and remapped at nominal 300m spatial resolution using cylindrical equirectangular projection. '''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 in water absorption parameters can be derived. '''Quality / Accuracy / Calibration information:''' Detailed description of cal/val is given in the relevant QUID, associated validation reports and quality documentation. '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00078
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'''DEFINITION''' We have derived an annual eutrophication and eutrophication indicator map for the North Atlantic Ocean using satellite-derived chlorophyll concentration. Using the satellite-derived chlorophyll products distributed in the regional North Atlantic CMEMS MY Ocean Colour dataset (OC- CCI), we derived P90 and P10 daily climatologies. The time period selected for the climatology was 1998-2017. For a given pixel, P90 and P10 were defined as dynamic thresholds such as 90% of the 1998-2017 chlorophyll values for that pixel were below the P90 value, and 10% of the chlorophyll values were below the P10 value. To minimise the effect of gaps in the data in the computation of these P90 and P10 climatological values, we imposed a threshold of 25% valid data for the daily climatology. For the 20-year 1998-2017 climatology this means that, for a given pixel and day of the year, at least 5 years must contain valid data for the resulting climatological value to be considered significant. Pixels where the minimum data requirements were met were not considered in further calculations. We compared every valid daily observation over 2021 with the corresponding daily climatology on a pixel-by-pixel basis, to determine if values were above the P90 threshold, below the P10 threshold or within the [P10, P90] range. Values above the P90 threshold or below the P10 were flagged as anomalous. The number of anomalous and total valid observations were stored during this process. We then calculated the percentage of valid anomalous observations (above/below the P90/P10 thresholds) for each pixel, to create percentile anomaly maps in terms of % days per year. Finally, we derived an annual indicator map for eutrophication levels: if 25% of the valid observations for a given pixel and year were above the P90 threshold, the pixel was flagged as eutrophic. Similarly, if 25% of the observations for a given pixel were below the P10 threshold, the pixel was flagged as oligotrophic. '''CONTEXT''' Eutrophication is the process by which an excess of nutrients – mainly phosphorus and nitrogen – in a water body leads to increased growth of plant material in an aquatic body. Anthropogenic activities, such as farming, agriculture, aquaculture and industry, are the main source of nutrient input in problem areas (Jickells, 1998; Schindler, 2006; Galloway et al., 2008). Eutrophication is an issue particularly in coastal regions and areas with restricted water flow, such as lakes and rivers (Howarth and Marino, 2006; Smith, 2003). The impact of eutrophication on aquatic ecosystems is well known: nutrient availability boosts plant growth – particularly algal blooms – resulting in a decrease in water quality (Anderson et al., 2002; Howarth et al.; 2000). This can, in turn, cause death by hypoxia of aquatic organisms (Breitburg et al., 2018), ultimately driving changes in community composition (Van Meerssche et al., 2019). Eutrophication has also been linked to changes in the pH (Cai et al., 2011, Wallace et al. 2014) and depletion of inorganic carbon in the aquatic environment (Balmer and Downing, 2011). Oligotrophication is the opposite of eutrophication, where reduction in some limiting resource leads to a decrease in photosynthesis by aquatic plants, reducing the capacity of the ecosystem to sustain the higher organisms in it. Eutrophication is one of the more long-lasting water quality problems in Europe (OSPAR ICG-EUT, 2017), and is on the forefront of most European Directives on water-protection. Efforts to reduce anthropogenically-induced pollution resulted in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in 2000. '''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS''' The coastal and shelf waters, especially between 30 and 400N that showed active oligotrophication flags for 2020 have reduced in 2021 and a reversal to eutrophic flags can be seen in places. Again, the eutrophication index is positive only for a small number of coastal locations just north of 40oN in 2021, however south of 40oN there has been a significant increase in eutrophic flags, particularly around the Azores. In general, the 2021 indicator map showed an increase in oligotrophic areas in the Northern Atlantic and an increase in eutrophic areas in the Southern Atlantic. The Third Integrated Report on the Eutrophication Status of the OSPAR Maritime Area (OSPAR ICG-EUT, 2017) reported an improvement from 2008 to 2017 in eutrophication status across offshore and outer coastal waters of the Greater North Sea, with a decrease in the size of coastal problem areas in Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00195
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'''Short description:''' For the NWS/IBI Ocean- Sea Surface Temperature L3 Observations . This product provides daily foundation sea surface temperature from multiple satellite sources. The data are intercalibrated. This product consists in a fusion of sea surface temperature observations from multiple satellite sensors, daily, over a 0.02° resolution grid. It includes observations by polar orbiting and geostationary satellites . The L3S SST data are produced selecting only the highest quality input data from input L2P/L3P images within a strict temporal window (local nightime), to avoid diurnal cycle and cloud contamination. The observations of each sensor are intercalibrated prior to merging using a bias correction based on a multi-sensor median reference correcting the large-scale cross-sensor biases. 3 more datasets are available that only contain "per sensor type" data : Polar InfraRed (PIR), Polar MicroWave (PMW), Geostationary InfraRed (GIR) '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00310
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'''DEFINITION''' The Strong Wave Incidence index is proposed to quantify the variability of strong wave conditions in the Iberia-Biscay-Ireland regional seas. The anomaly of exceeding a threshold of Significant Wave Height is used to characterize the wave behavior. A sensitivity test of the threshold has been performed evaluating the differences using several ones (percentiles 75, 80, 85, 90, and 95). From this indicator, it has been chosen the 90th percentile as the most representative, coinciding with the state-of-the-art. Two Copernicus Marine products are used to compute the Strong Wave Incidence index: * IBI-WAV-MYP: '''IBI_MULTIYEAR_WAV_005_006''' * IBI-WAV-NRT: '''IBI_ANALYSISFORECAST_WAV_005_005''' The Strong Wave Incidence index (SWI) is defined as the difference between the climatic frequency of exceedance (Fclim) and the observational frequency of exceedance (Fobs) of the threshold defined by the 90th percentile (ThP90) of Significant Wave Height (SWH) computed on a monthly basis from hourly data of IBI-WAV-MYP product: SWI = Fobs(SWH > ThP90) – Fclim(SWH > ThP90) Since the Strong Wave Incidence index is defined as a difference of a climatic mean and an observed value, it can be considered an anomaly. Such index represents the percentage that the stormy conditions have occurred above/below the climatic average. Thus, positive/negative values indicate the percentage of hourly data that exceed the threshold above/below the climatic average, respectively. '''CONTEXT''' Ocean waves have a high relevance over the coastal ecosystems and human activities. Extreme wave events can entail severe impacts over human infrastructures and coastal dynamics. However, the incidence of severe (90th percentile) wave events also have valuable relevance affecting the development of human activities and coastal environments. The Strong Wave Incidence index based on the Copernicus Marine regional analysis and reanalysis product provides information on the frequency of severe wave events. The IBI-MFC covers the Europe’s Atlantic coast in a region bounded by the 26ºN and 56ºN parallels, and the 19ºW and 5ºE meridians. The western European coast is located at the end of the long fetch of the subpolar North Atlantic (Mørk et al., 2010), one of the world’s greatest wave generating regions (Folley, 2017). Several studies have analyzed changes of the ocean wave variability in the North Atlantic Ocean (Bacon and Carter, 1991; Kushnir et al., 1997; WASA Group, 1998; Bauer, 2001; Wang and Swail, 2004; Dupuis et al., 2006; Wolf and Woolf, 2006; Dodet et al., 2010; Young et al., 2011; Young and Ribal, 2019). The observed variability is composed of fluctuations ranging from the weather scale to the seasonal scale, together with long-term fluctuations on interannual to decadal scales associated with large-scale climate oscillations. Since the ocean surface state is mainly driven by wind stresses, part of this variability in Iberia-Biscay-Ireland region is connected to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index (Bacon and Carter, 1991; Hurrell, 1995; Bouws et al., 1996, Bauer, 2001; Woolf et al., 2002; Tsimplis et al., 2005; Gleeson et al., 2017). However, later studies have quantified the relationships between the wave climate and other atmospheric climate modes such as the East Atlantic pattern, the Arctic Oscillation pattern, the East Atlantic Western Russian pattern and the Scandinavian pattern (Izaguirre et al., 2011, Martínez-Asensio et al., 2016). The Strong Wave Incidence index provides information on incidence of stormy events in four monitoring regions in the IBI domain. The selected monitoring regions (Figure 1.A) are aimed to provide a summarized view of the diverse climatic conditions in the IBI regional domain: Wav1 region monitors the influence of stormy conditions in the West coast of Iberian Peninsula, Wav2 region is devoted to monitor the variability of stormy conditions in the Bay of Biscay, Wav3 region is focused in the northern half of IBI domain, this region is strongly affected by the storms transported by the subpolar front, and Wav4 is focused in the influence of marine storms in the North-East African Coast, the Gulf of Cadiz and Canary Islands. More details and a full scientific evaluation can be found in the CMEMS Ocean State report (Pascual et al., 2020). '''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS''' The trend analysis of the SWI index for the period 1980–2024 shows statistically significant trends (at the 99% confidence level) in wave incidence, with an increase of at least 0.05 percentage points per year in regions WAV1, WAV3, and WAV4. The analysis of the historical period, based on reanalysis data, highlights the major wave events recorded in each monitoring region. In region WAV1 (panel B), the maximum wave event occurred in February 2014, resulting in a 28% increase in strong wave conditions. In region WAV2 (panel C), two notable wave events were identified in November 2009 and February 2014, with increases of 16–18% in strong wave conditions. Similarly, in region WAV3 (panel D), a major event occurred in February 2014, marking one of the most intense events in the region with a 20% increase in storm wave conditions. Additionally, a comparable storm affected the region two months earlier, in December 2013. In region WAV4 (panel E), the most extreme event took place in January 1996, producing a 25% increase in strong wave conditions. Although each monitoring region is generally affected by independent wave events, the analysis reveals several historical events with above-average wave activity that propagated across multiple regions: November–December 2010 (WAV3 and WAV2), February 2014 (WAV1, WAV2, and WAV3), and February–March 2018 (WAV1 and WAV4). The analysis of the near-real-time (NRT) period (from January 2024 onward) identifies a significant event in February 2024 that impacted regions WAV1 and WAV4, resulting in increases of 20% and 15% in strong wave conditions, respectively. For region WAV4, this event represents the second most intense event recorded in the region. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00251
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'''This product has been archived''' For operationnal and online products, please visit https://marine.copernicus.eu '''DEFINITION''' The ibi_omi_tempsal_sst_area_averaged_anomalies product for 2021 includes Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomalies, given as monthly mean time series starting on 1993 and averaged over the Iberia-Biscay-Irish Seas. The IBI SST OMI is built from the CMEMS Reprocessed European North West Shelf Iberai-Biscay-Irish Seas (SST_MED_SST_L4_REP_OBSERVATIONS_010_026, see e.g. the OMI QUID, http://marine.copernicus.eu/documents/QUID/CMEMS-OMI-QUID-ATL-SST.pdf), which provided the SSTs used to compute the evolution of SST anomalies over the European North West Shelf Seas. This reprocessed product consists of daily (nighttime) interpolated 0.05° grid resolution SST maps over the European North West Shelf Iberai-Biscay-Irish Seas built from the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI) (Merchant et al., 2019) and Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) initiatives. Anomalies are computed against the 1993-2014 reference period. '''CONTEXT''' Sea surface temperature (SST) is a key climate variable since it deeply contributes in regulating climate and its variability (Deser et al., 2010). SST is then essential to monitor and characterise the state of the global climate system (GCOS 2010). Long-term SST variability, from interannual to (multi-)decadal timescales, provides insight into the slow variations/changes in SST, i.e. the temperature trend (e.g., Pezzulli et al., 2005). In addition, on shorter timescales, SST anomalies become an essential indicator for extreme events, as e.g. marine heatwaves (Hobday et al., 2018). '''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS''' The overall trend in the SST anomalies in this region is 0.011 ±0.001 °C/year over the period 1993-2021. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00256
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'''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 surface chlorophyll of the European region by merging the daily chlorophyll regional products over the Atlantic Ocean, the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. Single chlorophyll daily images are the Case I – Case II products, which are produced accounting for bio-optical differences in these two water types. The mosaic is built using the following datasets: • dataset-oc-atl-chl-multi_cci-l3-chl_1km_daily-rt-v01 for the North Atlantic Ocean • dataset-oc-bal-chl-modis_a-l3-nn_1km_daily-rt-v01 for the Baltic Sea • dataset-oc-bs-chl-multi-l3-chl_1km_daily-rt-v02 for the Black Sea • dataset-oc-med-chl-multi-l3-chl_1km_daily-rt-v02 for the Mediterranean Sea. '''Processing information:''' All details about the processing can be found in relevant product description: *OCEANCOLOUR_ATL_CHL_L3_NRT_OBSERVATIONS_009_036 *OCEANCOLOUR_BAL_CHL_L3_NRT_OBSERVATIONS_009_049 *OCEANCOLOUR_BS_CHL_L3_NRT_OBSERVATIONS_009_044 *OCEANCOLOUR_MED_CHL_L3_NRT_OBSERVATIONS_009_040 '''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-eur-chl-multi-l3-chl_1km_daily-rt-v02 '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00095
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'''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.
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'''Short description:''' For the NWS/IBI Ocean- Sea Surface Temperature L3 Observations . This product provides daily foundation sea surface temperature from multiple satellite sources. The data are intercalibrated. This product consists in a fusion of sea surface temperature observations from multiple satellite sensors, daily, over a 0.05° resolution grid. It includes observations by polar orbiting from the ESA CCI / C3S archive . The L3S SST data are produced selecting only the highest quality input data from input L2P/L3P images within a strict temporal window (local nightime), to avoid diurnal cycle and cloud contamination. The observations of each sensor are intercalibrated prior to merging using a bias correction based on a multi-sensor median reference correcting the large-scale cross-sensor biases. '''DOI (product) :''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00311
Catalogue PIGMA