'''This product has been archived''' For operationnal and online products, please visit https://marine.copernicus.eu '''DEFINITION''' Oligotrophic subtropical gyres are regions of the ocean with low levels of nutrients required for phytoplankton growth and low levels of surface chlorophyll-a whose concentration can be quantified through satellite observations. The gyre boundary has been defined using a threshold value of 0.15 mg m-3 chlorophyll for the Atlantic gyres (Aiken et al. 2016), and 0.07 mg m-3 for the Pacific gyres (Polovina et al. 2008). The area inside the gyres for each month is computed using monthly chlorophyll data from which the monthly climatology is subtracted to compute anomalies. A gap filling algorithm has been utilized to account for missing data. Trends in the area anomaly are then calculated for the entire study period (September 1997 to December 2020). '''CONTEXT''' Oligotrophic gyres of the oceans have been referred to as ocean deserts (Polovina et al. 2008). They are vast, covering approximately 50% of the Earth’s surface (Aiken et al. 2016). Despite low productivity, these regions contribute significantly to global productivity due to their immense size (McClain et al. 2004). Even modest changes in their size can have large impacts on a variety of global biogeochemical cycles and on trends in chlorophyll (Signorini et al. 2015). Based on satellite data, Polovina et al. (2008) showed that the areas of subtropical gyres were expanding. The Ocean State Report (Sathyendranath et al. 2018) showed that the trends had reversed in the Pacific for the time segment from January 2007 to December 2016. '''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS''' The trend in the North Atlantic gyre area for the 1997 Sept – 2020 December period was positive, with a 0.39% year-1 increase in area relative to 2000-01-01 values. This trend has decreased compared with the 1997-2019 trend of 0.45%, and is statistically significant (p<0.05). During the 1997 Sept – 2020 December period, the trend in chlorophyll concentration was positive (0.24% year-1) inside the North Atlantic gyre relative to 2000-01-01 values. This time series extension has resulted in a reversal in the rate of change, compared with the -0.18% trend for the 1997-209 period and is statistically significant (p<0.05). Note: The key findings will be updated annually in November, in line with OMI evolutions. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00226

'''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''' 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

'''DEFINITION''' The OMI_EXTREME_SL_NORTHWESTSHELF_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_northwestshelf_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 metre 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 North West Shelf area presents positive sea level trends with higher trend estimates in the German Bight and around Denmark, and lower trends around the southern part of Great Britain (Dettmering et al., 2021). '''COPERNICUS MARINE SERVICE KEY FINDINGS''' The completeness index criteria is fulfilled by 33 stations in 2023, one less than in 2022 (32). The mean 99th percentiles present a large spatial variability related to the tidal pattern, with largest values found in East England and at the entrance of the English channel, and lowest values along the Danish and Swedish coasts, ranging from the 3.08 m above mean sea level in Immingan (East England) to 0.45 m above mean sea level in Tregde (Norway). The standard deviation of annual 99th percentiles ranges between 2-3 cm in the western part of the region (e.g.: 2 cm in Harwich, 3 cm in Dunkerke) and 7-8 cm in the eastern part and the Kattegat (e.g. 8 cm in Stenungsund, Sweden). The 99th percentile anomalies for 2023 show overall slightly negative values except in the Kattegat (Eastern part), with maximum significant values of +11 cm in Hornbaek (Denmark), and +10 cm in Ringhals (Sweden). '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00272

'''This product has been archived''' '''DEFINITION''' The CMEMS IBI_OMI_tempsal_extreme_var_temp_mean_and_anomaly OMI indicator is based on the computation of the annual 99th percentile of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) from model data. Two different CMEMS products are used to compute the indicator: The Iberia-Biscay-Ireland Multi Year Product (IBI_MULTIYEAR_PHY_005_002) and the Analysis product (IBI_ANALYSISFORECAST_PHY_005_001). 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 over the whole period (1993-2021). • Anomaly of the 99th percentile in 2022: The 99th percentile of the year 2022 is computed from the Analysis product. The anomaly is obtained by subtracting the mean percentile from the 2022 percentile. This indicator is aimed at monitoring the extremes of sea surface temperature every year and at checking their variations in space. The use of percentiles instead of annual maxima, makes this extremes study less affected by individual data. This study of extreme variability was first applied to the 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 Alvarez Fanjul et al., 2019). More details and a full scientific evaluation can be found in the CMEMS Ocean State report (Alvarez Fanjul et al., 2019). '''CONTEXT''' The Sea Surface Temperature is one of the essential ocean variables, hence the monitoring of this variable is of key importance, since its variations can affect the ocean circulation, marine ecosystems, and ocean-atmosphere exchange processes. As the oceans continuously interact with the atmosphere, trends of sea surface temperature can also have an effect on the global climate. While the global-averaged sea surface temperatures have increased since the beginning of the 20th century (Hartmann et al., 2013) in the North Atlantic, anomalous cold conditions have also been reported since 2014 (Mulet et al., 2018; Dubois et al., 2018). The IBI area is a complex dynamic region with a remarkable variety of ocean physical processes and scales involved. The Sea Surface Temperature field in the region is strongly dependent on latitude, with higher values towards the South (Locarnini et al. 2013). This latitudinal gradient is supported by the presence of the eastern part of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre that transports cool water from the northern latitudes towards the equator. Additionally, the Iberia-Biscay-Ireland region is under the influence of the Sea Level Pressure dipole established between the Icelandic low and the Bermuda high. Therefore, the interannual and interdecadal variability of the surface temperature field may be influenced by the North Atlantic Oscillation pattern (Czaja and Frankignoul, 2002; Flatau et al., 2003). Also relevant in the region are the upwelling processes taking place in the coastal margins. The most referenced one is the eastern boundary coastal upwelling system off the African and western Iberian coast (Sotillo et al., 2016), although other smaller upwelling systems have also been described in the northern coast of the Iberian Peninsula (Alvarez et al., 2011), the south-western Irish coast (Edwars et al., 1996) and the European Continental Slope (Dickson, 1980). '''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS''' In the IBI region, the 99th mean percentile for 1993-2021 shows a north-south pattern driven by the climatological distribution of temperatures in the North Atlantic. In the coastal regions of Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, the mean values are influenced by the upwelling processes (Sotillo et al., 2016). These results are consistent with the ones presented in Álvarez Fanjul (2019) for the period 1993-2016. The analysis of the 99th percentile anomaly in the year 2023 shows that this period has been affected by a severe impact of maximum SST values. Anomalies exceeding the standard deviation affect almost the entire IBI domain, and regions impacted by thermal anomalies surpassing twice the standard deviation are also widespread below the 43ºN parallel. Extreme SST values exceeding twice the standard deviation affect not only the open ocean waters but also the easter boundary upwelling areas such as the northern half of Portugal, the Spanish Atlantic coast up to Cape Ortegal, and the African coast south of Cape Aguer. It is worth noting the impact of anomalies that exceed twice the standard deviation is widespread throughout the entire Mediterranean region included in this analysis. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00254

'''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

'''Short description:''' This product consists of 3D fields of Particulate Organic Carbon (POC), Particulate Backscattering coefficient (bbp), Chlorophyll-a concentration (Chla), Downwelling Photosynthetic Available Radiation (PAR) and downwelling irradiance, at 0.25°x0.25° resolution from the surface to 1000 m. A neural network estimates the vertical distribution of Chla and bbp from surface ocean color measurements with hydrological properties and additional drivers. The SOCA-light models is used to integrate light. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00046

'''DEFINITION''' The OMI_EXTREME_WAVE_NORTHWESTSHELF_swh_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 significant wave height (swh) measured by in situ buoys. 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''' Projections on Climate Change foresee a future with a greater frequency of extreme sea states (Stott, 2016; Mitchell, 2006). The damages caused by severe wave storms can be considerable not only in infrastructure and buildings but also in the natural habitat, crops and ecosystems affected by erosion and flooding aggravated by the extreme wave heights. In addition, wave storms strongly hamper the maritime activities, especially in harbours. These extreme phenomena drive complex hydrodynamic processes, whose understanding is paramount for proper infrastructure management, design and maintenance (Goda, 2010). In recent years, there have been several studies searching possible trends in wave conditions focusing on both mean and extreme values of significant wave height using a multi-source approach with model reanalysis information with high variability in the time coverage, satellite altimeter records covering the last 30 years and in situ buoy measured data since the 1980s decade but with sparse information and gaps in the time series (e.g. Dodet et al., 2020; Timmermans et al., 2020; Young & Ribal, 2019). These studies highlight a remarkable interannual, seasonal and spatial variability of wave conditions and suggest that the possible observed trends are not clearly associated with anthropogenic forcing (Hochet et al. 2021, 2023). In the North Atlantic, the mean wave height shows some weak trends not very statistically significant. Young & Ribal (2019) found a mostly positive weak trend in the European Coasts while Timmermans et al. (2020) showed a weak negative trend in high latitudes, including the North Sea and even more intense in the Norwegian Sea. For extreme values, some authors have found a clearer positive trend in high percentiles (90th-99th) (Young et al., 2011; Young & Ribal, 2019). '''COPERNICUS MARINE SERVICE KEY FINDINGS''' The mean 99th percentiles showed in the area present a wide range from 2.5 meters in the English Channel with 0.3m of standard deviation (std), 3-5m in the southern and central North Sea with 0.3-0.6m of std, 4 meters in the Skagerrak Strait with 0.6m of std, 6-7m in the northern North Sea with 0.4-0.5m of std to 8 meters in the NorthWest of the British Isles with 0.8-1.0m of std. Results for this year show either low positive or negative anomalies between -0.3m and +0.4m, inside the margin of the standard deviation, in the English Channel, the Skagerrak Strait and the southern and central North Sea except in the station 6200046 with a positive anomaly of 0.8m and a slight negative anomaly (-0.1/-0.5m) inside the margin of the std in the NorthWest of the British Isles and the northern North Sea. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00270

'''DEFINITION''' Variations of the Mediterranean Outflow Water at 1000 m depth are monitored through area-averaged salinity anomalies in specifically defined boxes. The salinity data are extracted from several CMEMS products and averaged in the corresponding monitoring domain: * IBI-MYP: IBI_MULTIYEAR_PHY_005_002 * IBI-NRT: IBI_ANALYSISFORECAST_PHYS_005_001 * GLO-MYP: GLOBAL_REANALYSIS_PHY_001_030 * CORA: INSITU_GLO_TS_REP_OBSERVATIONS_013_002_b * ARMOR: MULTIOBS_GLO_PHY_TSUV_3D_MYNRT_015_012 The anomalies of salinity have been computed relative to the monthly climatology obtained from IBI-MYP. Outcomes from diverse products are combined to deliver a unique multi-product result. Multi-year products (IBI-MYP, GLO,MYP, CORA, and ARMOR) are used to show an ensemble mean and the standard deviation of members in the covered period. The IBI-NRT short-range product is not included in the ensemble, but used to provide the deterministic analysis of salinity anomalies in the most recent year. '''CONTEXT''' The Mediterranean Outflow Water is a saline and warm water mass generated from the mixing processes of the North Atlantic Central Water and the Mediterranean waters overflowing the Gibraltar sill (Daniault et al., 1994). The resulting water mass is accumulated in an area west of the Iberian Peninsula (Daniault et al., 1994) and spreads into the North Atlantic following advective pathways (Holliday et al. 2003; Lozier and Stewart 2008, de Pascual-Collar et al., 2019). The importance of the heat and salt transport promoted by the Mediterranean Outflow Water flow has implications beyond the boundaries of the Iberia-Biscay-Ireland domain (Reid 1979, Paillet et al. 1998, van Aken 2000). For example, (i) it contributes substantially to the salinity of the Norwegian Current (Reid 1979), (ii) the mixing processes with the Labrador Sea Water promotes a salt transport into the inner North Atlantic (Talley and MacCartney, 1982; van Aken, 2000), and (iii) the deep anti-cyclonic Meddies developed in the African slope is a cause of the large-scale westward penetration of Mediterranean salt (Iorga and Lozier, 1999). Several studies have demonstrated that the core of Mediterranean Outflow Water is affected by inter-annual variability. This variability is mainly caused by a shift of the MOW dominant northward-westward pathways (Bozec et al. 2011), it is correlated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (Bozec et al. 2011) and leads to the displacement of the boundaries of the water core (de Pascual-Collar et al., 2019). The variability of the advective pathways of MOW is an oceanographic process that conditions the destination of the Mediterranean salt transport in the North Atlantic. Therefore, monitoring the Mediterranean Outflow Water variability becomes decisive to have a proper understanding of the climate system and its evolution (e.g. Bozec et al. 2011, Pascual-Collar et al. 2019). The CMEMS IBI-OMI_WMHE_mow product is aimed to monitor the inter-annual variability of the Mediterranean Outflow Water in the North Atlantic. The objective is the establishment of a long-term monitoring program to observe the variability and trends of the Mediterranean water mass in the IBI regional seas. To do that, the salinity anomaly is monitored in key areas selected to represent the main reservoir and the three main advective spreading pathways. More details and a full scientific evaluation can be found in the CMEMS Ocean State report Pascual et al., 2018 and de Pascual-Collar et al. 2019. '''CMEMS KEY FINDINGS''' The absence of long-term trends in the monitoring domain Reservoir (b) suggests the steadiness of water mass properties involved on the formation of Mediterranean Outflow Water. Results obtained in monitoring box North (c) present an alternance of periods with positive and negative anomalies. The last negative period started in 2016 reaching up to the present. Such negative events are linked to the decrease of the northward pathway of Mediterranean Outflow Water (Bozec et al., 2011), which appears to return to steady conditions in 2020 and 2021. Results for box West (d) reveal a cycle of negative (2015-2017) and positive (2017 up to the present) anomalies. The positive anomalies of salinity in this region are correlated with an increase of the westward transport of salinity into the inner North Atlantic (de Pascual-Collar et al., 2019), which appear to be maintained for years 2020-2021. Results in monitoring boxes North and West are consistent with independent studies (Bozec et al., 2011; and de Pascual-Collar et al., 2019), suggesting a westward displacement of Mediterranean Outflow Water and the consequent contraction of the northern boundary. Note: The key findings will be updated annually in November, in line with OMI evolutions. '''DOI (product):''' https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00258