Last improvements in the data assimilation scheme for the Mediterranean Analysis and Forecast system of the Copernicus Marine Service

The Mediterranean Forecasting System (MFS) is a numerical ocean prediction system that produces analyses, reanalyses and short term forecasts for the entire Mediterranean Sea and its Atlantic Ocean adjacent areas. The system is now part of the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) providing regular and systematic information about the physical state and dynamics of the Mediterranean Sea through the Med-MFC (Mediterranean Monitoring and Forecasting Center). MFS has been implemented in the Mediterranean Sea with 1/16o horizontal resolution and 72 vertical levels and is composed by the hydrodynamic model NEMO (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean) 2-way online coupled with the third generation wave model WaveWatchIII (Clementi et al., 2017a) and forced by ECMWF atmospheric fields at 1/8° horizontal resolution. The model solutions are corrected by the data assimilation system (3D variational scheme, Dobricic and Pinardi, 2008) with a daily assimilation cycle of along track satellite Sea Level Anomaly (SLA) and vertical profiles of Temperature and Salinity from ARGO and gliders. In this study we present a new estimate of the background error covariance matrix with vertical Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs) that are defined at each grid point of the model domain in order to better account for the error covariance between temperature and salinity in the shelf and open ocean areas. Moreover the Observational error covariance matrix is z-dependent and varies in each month. This new dataset has been tested and validated for more than 2 years against a background error correlation matrix varying only seasonally and in thirteen sub-regions of the Mediterranean Sea (Dobricic et al. 2005).PublishedBergen, Norway3SR. AMBIENTE - Servizi e ricerca per la Societ

Last improvements in the data assimilation scheme for the Mediterranean Analysis and Forecast system of the Copernicus Marine Service

The Mediterranean Forecasting System (MFS) is a numerical ocean prediction system that produces analyses, reanalyses and short term forecasts for the entire Mediterranean Sea and its Atlantic Ocean adjacent areas. The system is now part of the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) providing regular and systematic information about the physical state and dynamics of the Mediterranean Sea through the Med-MFC (Mediterranean Monitoring and Forecasting Center). MFS has been implemented in the Mediterranean Sea with 1/16o horizontal resolution and 72 vertical levels and is composed by the hydrodynamic model NEMO (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean) 2-way online coupled with the third generation wave model WW3 (WaveWatchIII) and forced by ECMWF atmospheric fields at 1/8o horizontal resolution. The model solutions are corrected by the data assimilation system (3D variational-3Dvar scheme adapted to the oceanic assimilation problem, Dobricic and Pinardi, 2008) with a daily assimilation cycle of satellite Sea Level Anomaly (SLA) and vertical profiles of Temperature and Salinity. In this study we present a new estimate the of the background error covariance matrix with vertical Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs) that are defined at each grid point of the model domain in order to better account for the error covariance between temperature and salinity in the shelf and open ocean areas. Moreover the Error covariance matrix is z-dependent and varies in each month. This new dataset has been tested and validated for more than 2 years against a background error correlation matrix varying only seasonally and in thirteen sub-regions of the Mediterranean Sea. Latest developments include the implementation of an upgraded 3Dvar (Storto et al. 2012) for a high-resolution model, 1/24o in the horizontal and 141 vertical levelsPublishedBergen, Norway3SR. AMBIENTE - Servizi e ricerca per la Societ

A 1/24 degree resolution Mediterranean analysis and forecast modeling system for the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service

The Mediterranean Forecasting System (MFS) is a numerical ocean prediction system that operationally produces analyses, reanalyses and short-term forecasts of the main physical parameters for the entire Mediterranean Sea and its Atlantic Ocean adjacent areas. This work is specifically focused on the description and evaluation of the analysis and forecast modeling system that covers the analysis of the current situation and produces daily updates of the following 10 days forecast. The system has been recently upgraded in the framework of the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) by increasing the grid resolution from 1/16o to 1/24o in the horizontal and from 72 to 141 vertical levels, by increasing the number of fresh water river inputs and by updating the data assimilation scheme. The model has a non-linear explicit free surface and it is forced by surface pressure, interactive heat, momentum and water fluxes at the air-sea interface. In order to validate the modeling system and to estimate the accuracy of the model products, a quality assessment is regularly performed including both pre-operational qualification and near real time (NRT) validation procedures. Pre-operational qualification activities focus on testing the improvements of the quality of the new system with respect to the previous version and relies on past simulation and historical data, while NRT validation activities aim at routinely and on-line providing the skill assessment of the model analysis and forecasts and relies on the NRT available observations. The focus of this work is to present the new operational modeling system and the skill assessment including comparison with independent (insitu coastal moorings) and quasi-independent (insitu vertical profiles and satellite) datasets.PublishedBergen, Norway3SR. AMBIENTE - Servizi e ricerca per la Societ

A 1/24° resolution Mediterranean physical analysis and forecasting system for the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service

This study describes a new model implementation for the Mediterranean Sea that has been achieved in the framework of the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS). The numerical ocean prediction system, that operationally produces analyses and forecasts of the main physical parameters for the entire Mediterranean Sea and its Atlantic Ocean adjacent areas, has been upgraded by increasing the grid resolution from 1/16o to 1/24o in the horizontal and from 72 to 141 unevenly spaced vertical levels, by increasing the number of fresh water river inputs and by updating the data assimilation scheme. The model has a non-linear explicit free surface and it is forced by surface pressure, interactive heat, momentum and water fluxes at the airsea interface. The focus of this work is to present the new modelling system which will become operational in the near future and the validation assessment including the comparison with an independent non assimilated dataset (coastal moorings) and quasi-independent (in situ vertical profiles and satellite) datasets. The results show that the higher resolution model is capable of representing most of the variability of the general circulation in the Mediterranean Sea, however some improvements need to be implemented in order to enhance the model ability in reproducing specific hydrodynamic features particularly the Sea Level Anomaly.PublishedBergen, Norway3SR. AMBIENTE - Servizi e ricerca per la Societ

The Copernicus Marine Service ocean forecasting system for the Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Monitoring and Forecasting Center (MED-MFC) is part of the Copernicus Marine Environment and Monitoring Service (CMEMS) and provides regular and systematic information on the time-evolving Mediterranean Sea physical (including waves) and biogeochemical state. The systems consist of 3 components: 1) Med-Physics, a numerical ocean prediction systems, based on NEMO model, that operationally produces analyses, reanalysis and short term forecasts of the main physical parameters; 2) Med-Biogeochemistry, a biogeochemical analysis, reanalysis and forecasting system based on the Biogeochemical Flux Model (BFM) which provides information on chlorophyll, phosphate, nitrate, primary productivity, oxygen, phytoplankton biomass, pH and pCO2; 3) Med-Waves based on WAM model and providing analysis, forecast and reanalysis products for waves. The systems have been recently upgraded at a resolution of 1/24 degree in the horizontal and 141 vertical levels. The Med-Physics analysis and forecasting system is composed by the hydrodynamic model NEMO 2-way coupled with the third-generation wave model WaveWatchIII and forced by ECMWF atmospheric fields. The model solutions are corrected by the 3DVAR data assimilation system (3D variational scheme adapted to the oceanic assimilation problem) with a daily assimilation cycle of sea level anomaly and vertical profiles of temperature and salinity. The model has a non-linear explicit free surface and it is forced by surface pressure, interactive heat, momentum and water fluxes at the air-sea interface. The biogeochemical analysis and forecasts are produced by means of the MedBFM v2.1 modeling system (i.e. the physical-biogeochemical OGSTM-BFM model coupled with the 3DVARBIO assimilation scheme) forced by the outputs of the Med-Physics product. Seven days of analysis/hindcast and ten days of forecast are bi-weekly produced on Wednesday and on Saturday, with the assimilation of surface chlorophyll concentration from satellite observations. In-situ data are mainly used to estimate model uncertainty at different spatial scales. The Med-Waves modelling system is based on the WAM Cycle 4.5.4 wave model code. It consists of a wave model grid covering the Mediterranean Sea at a 1/24° horizontal resolution, nested to a North Atlantic grid at a 1/6° resolution. The system is forced by ECMWF winds at 1/8°. Refraction due to surface currents is accounted by the system which assimilates altimeter along-track significant wave height observations. On a daily basis, it provides 1-day analysis and 5-day forecast hourly wave parameters. Currently, wave buoy observations of significant wave height and mean wave period along with satellite observations are used to calibrate and validate the Med-waves modelling system.PublishedHalifax, Nova Scotia, Canada4A. Oceanografia e clim

Monitoring and long-term assessment of the Mediterranean Sea physical state through ocean reanalyses62

The Mediterranean Sea physical reanalysis [MEDREA, Simoncelli et al., 2014, Simoncelli et al., 2016] data set has been produced in the framework of MyOcean Project and distributed thought Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) catalogue (http://marine.copernicus.eu) since 2014 and yearly extended. It covers the time period 19872018 at 1/16° of spatial resolution forced by ERAInterim atmospheric reanalysis [Dee et al., 2011] and provides daily and monthly fields of temperature, salinity, sea surface height and currents. It assimilates along track sea level anomaly and temperature and salinity profiles. This data set is one of the most used by CMEMS users for many applications and studies among which the study of: the connectivity of Marine Protected Areas [Rossi et al., 2014]; the double diffusion processes [Meccia et al., 2016]; the cause of mass mortality that hit gorgonian forests at Montecristo Island [Turicchia et al., 2018]; the Mediterranean overturning circulation [Pinardi e al., 2019].PublishedRome4A. Oceanografia e clim

SeaDataCloud Temperature and Salinity Climatology for the Mediterranean Sea (Version 1)

The SDC_MED_CLIM_TS_V1 product contains Temperature and Salinity climatological fields for the Mediterranean Sea. Monthly and seasonal fields are released for periods 1955-2017, 1955-1984 and 1985-2017, while seasonal fields are provided for 6 decades: 1955-1964, 1965-1974, 1985-1994, 1995-2004, 2005-2017. The climatological fields were obtained from an integrated Mediterranean Sea dataset which combines data extracted from SeaDataNet infrastructure and the Coriolis Ocean Dataset for Reanalysis (CORA5.2). The analysis was performed with the DIVAnd (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis in n dimensions), version 2.4.0

SeaDataCloud Temperature and Salinity Historical Data Collection for the Mediterranean Sea (Version 2)

The second release of SeaDataCloud Temperature and Salinity Historical Data Collection for the Mediterranean Sea (SDC_MED_DATA_TS_V2) includes open access in situ data of water column temperature and salinity between -9.25 and 37 degrees of longitude, thus including an Atlantic box and the Marmara Sea. The collection has been obtained harvesting all measurements contained within SeaDataNet infrastructure at the end of July 2019 belonging to 30 data providers (distributors) 124 data originators. The dataset format is Ocean Data View (ODV) binary collection. The quality control of the data has been performed using ODV 5.3.0 software. Data Quality Flags have been revised following SeaDataNet2 project QC procedures in conjunction with the visual expert check. The number of the Temperature and Salinity profiles (stations) in the collection is 1003259

SeaDataCloud Temperature and Salinity Climatology for the Mediterranean Sea (Version 2)

The SDC_MED_CLIM_TS_V2 product contains Temperature and Salinity climatological fields for the Mediterranean Sea. Monthly and seasonal fields are released for periods 1955-2018, 1955-1984 and 1985-2018, while seasonal fields are provided for 6 decades: 1955-1964, 1965-1974, 1985-1994, 1995-2004, 2005-2018. The climatological fields were obtained from an integrated Mediterranean Sea dataset which combines data extracted from SeaDataNet infrastructure and the Coriolis Ocean Dataset for Reanalysis (CORA 5.2). The analysis was performed with the DIVAnd (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis in n dimensions), version 2.6.1