Title

Mediterranean Sea Mean Sea Level time series and trend from Observations Reprocessing

Alternate title

OMI_CLIMATE_SL_MEDSEA_area_averaged_anomalies

Date (Creation)

2023-11-30

Edition

3.4

Edition date

2025-06-25

Citation identifier

a78600a4-a280-47b5-8ddd-0dc8b5e9c9d9

Abstract

'''DEFINITION'''

The sea level ocean monitoring indicator has been presented in the Copernicus Ocean State Report #8. The ocean monitoring indicator of regional mean sea level is derived from the DUACS delayed-time (DT-2024 version, “my” (multi-year) dataset used when available, “myint” (multi-year interim) used after) sea level anomaly maps from satellite altimetry based on a stable number of altimeters (two) in the satellite constellation. These products are distributed by the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the Copernicus Marine Service (SEALEVEL_GLO_PHY_CLIMATE_L4_MY_008_057).

The time series of area averaged anomalies correspond to the area average of the maps in the Mediterranean Sea weighted by the cosine of the latitude (to consider the changing area in each grid with latitude) and by the proportion of ocean in each grid (to consider the coastal areas). The time series are corrected from regional mean GIA correction (weighted GIA mean of a 27 ensemble model following Spada et Melini, 2019). The time series are adjusted for seasonal annual and semi-annual signals and low-pass filtered at 6 months. Then, the trends/accelerations are estimated on the time series using ordinary least square fit.The trend uncertainty is provided in a 90% confidence interval. It is calculated as the weighted mean uncertainties in the region from Prandi et al., 2021. This estimate only considers errors related to the altimeter observation system (i.e., orbit determination errors, geophysical correction errors and inter-mission bias correction errors). The presence of the interannual signal can strongly influence the trend estimation considering to the period considered (Wang et al., 2021; Cazenave et al., 2014). The uncertainty linked to this effect is not considered.

""CONTEXT""

Change in mean sea level is an essential indicator of our evolving climate, as it reflects both the thermal expansion of the ocean in response to its warming and the increase in ocean mass due to the melting of ice sheets and glaciers (WCRP Global Sea Level Budget Group, 2018). At regional scale, sea level does not change homogenously. It is influenced by various other processes, with different spatial and temporal scales, such as local ocean dynamic, atmospheric forcing, Earth gravity and vertical land motion changes (IPCC WGI, 2021). The adverse effects of floods, storms and tropical cyclones, and the resulting losses and damage, have increased as a result of rising sea levels, increasing people and infrastructure vulnerability and food security risks, particularly in low-lying areas and island states (IPCC, 2022a). Adaptation and mitigation measures such as the restoration of mangroves and coastal wetlands, reduce the risks from sea level rise (IPCC, 2022b).

Beside a clear long-term trend, the regional mean sea level variation in the Mediterranean Sea shows an important interannual variability, with a high trend observed between 1993 and 1999 (nearly 8.4 mm/y) and relatively lower values afterward (nearly 2.4 mm/y between 2000 and 2022). This variability is associated with a variation of the different forcing. Steric effect has been the most important forcing before 1999 (Fenoglio-Marc, 2002; Vigo et al., 2005). Important change of the deep-water formation site also occurred in the 90’s. Their influence contributed to change the temperature and salinity property of the intermediate and deep water masses. These changes in the water masses and distribution is also associated with sea surface circulation changes, as the one observed in the Ionian Sea in 1997-1998 (e.g. Gačić et al., 2011), under the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and negative Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) phases (Incarbona et al., 2016). These circulation changes may also impact the sea level trend in the basin (Vigo et al., 2005). In 2010-2011, high regional mean sea level has been related to enhanced water mass exchange at Gibraltar, under the influence of wind forcing during the negative phase of NAO (Landerer and Volkov, 2013).The relatively high contribution of both sterodynamic (due to steric and circulation changes) and gravitational, rotational, and deformation (due to mass and water storage changes) after 2000 compared to the [1960, 1989] period is also underlined by (Calafat et al., 2022).

""KEY FINDINGS""

Over the [1999/02/21 to 2023/12/31] period, the area-averaged sea level in the Mediterranean Sea rises at a rate of 3.4 ± 0.8 mm/yr with an acceleration of 0.09 ± 0.06 mm/yr². This trend estimation is based on the altimeter measurements corrected from regional GIA correction (Spada et Melini, 2019) to consider the ongoing movement of land. The TOPEX-A is no longer included in the computation of regional mean sea level parameters (trend and acceleration) with version 2024 products due to potential drifts, and ongoing work aims to develop a new empirical correction. Calculation begins in February 1999 (the start of the TOPEX-B period).

'''DOI (product):'''

https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00264

Credit

E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information

Point of contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
SL-CLS-TOULOUSE-FR			Production Unit

Maintenance and update frequency

Annually

Other

P0M0D0H/P0M0D0H

Maintenance note

N/A

Maintenance and update frequency

Quarterly

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

• Oceanographic geographical features

Discipline

• satellite-observation

Climate and Forecast Standard Names

• sea_surface_height_above_sea_level

Temporal scale

• multi-year

Area of benefit

• marine-safety
• marine-resources
• coastal-marine-environment
• weather-climate-and-seasonal-forecasting

Reference Geographical Areas

• baltic-sea

Processing level

• N/A

Model assimilation

• Not Applicable

Use limitation

See Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service Data commitments and licence at: http://marine.copernicus.eu/web/27-service-commitments-and-licence.php

Access constraints

Other restrictions

Use constraints

License

Other legal constraints

No limitations on public access

Title

Calafat, F. M., Frederikse, T., and Horsburgh, K.: The Sources of Sea-Level Changes in the Mediterranean Sea Since 1960, J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 127, e2022JC019061, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JC019061, 2022.

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Title

Cazenave, A., Dieng, H.-B., Meyssignac, B., von Schuckmann, K., Decharme, B., and Berthier, E.: The rate of sea-level rise, Nat. Clim. Change, 4, 358–361, https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2159, 2014.

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Title

Fenoglio-Marc, L.: Long-term sea level change in the Mediterranean Sea from multi-satellite altimetry and tide gauges, Phys. Chem. Earth Parts ABC, 27, 1419–1431, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-7065(02)00084-0, 2002.

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Title

Gačić, M., Civitarese, G., Eusebi Borzelli, G. L., Kovačević, V., Poulain, P.-M., Theocharis, A., Menna, M., Catucci, A., and Zarokanellos, N.: On the relationship between the decadal oscillations of the northern Ionian Sea and the salinity distributions in the eastern Mediterranean, J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 116, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007280, 2011.

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Aggregate Datasetindentifier

2b5d1c5a-b0b2-4936-b35e-48808fa2ab6a

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Document

Title

Incarbona, A., Martrat, B., Mortyn, P. G., Sprovieri, M., Ziveri, P., Gogou, A., Jordà, G., Xoplaki, E., Luterbacher, J., Langone, L., Marino, G., Rodríguez-Sanz, L., Triantaphyllou, M., Di Stefano, E., Grimalt, J. O., Tranchida, G., Sprovieri, R., and Mazzola, S.: Mediterranean circulation perturbations over the last five centuries: Relevance to past Eastern Mediterranean Transient-type events, Sci. Rep., 6, 29623, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep29623, 2016.

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Title

IPCC: Summary for Policymakers [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, M. Tignor, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem (eds.)]. In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)], 2022a.

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Title

IPCC: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [P.R. Shukla, J. Skea, R. Slade, A. Al Khourdajie, R. van Diemen, D. McCollum, M. Pathak, S. Some, P. Vyas, R. Fradera, M. Belkacemi, A. Hasija, G. Lisboa, S. Luz, J. Malley, (eds.)], , https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157926.001, 2022b.

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Title

IPCC WGI: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2021.

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Title

Landerer, F. W. and Volkov, D. L.: The anatomy of recent large sea level fluctuations in the Mediterranean Sea, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 553–557, https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50140, 2013.

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Title

Prandi, P., Meyssignac, B., Ablain, M., Spada, G., Ribes, A., and Benveniste, J.: Local sea level trends, accelerations and uncertainties over 1993–2019, Sci. Data, 8, 1, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-00786-7, 2021.

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Title

Spada, G. and Melini, D.: SELEN4 (SELEN version 4.0): a Fortran program for solving the gravitationally and topographically self-consistent sea-level equation in glacial isostatic adjustment modeling, Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 5055–5075, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-5055-2019, 2019.

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Title

Vigo, I., Garcia, D., and Chao, B. F.: Change of sea level trend in the Mediterranean and Black seas, J. Mar. Res., 63, 1085–1100, https://doi.org/10.1357/002224005775247607, 2005.

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Title

Von Schuckmann et al., “The State of the Global Ocean, Issue 8.”

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Title

Wang, J., Church, J. A., Zhang, X., and Chen, X.: Reconciling global mean and regional sea level change in projections and observations, Nat. Commun., 12, 990, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21265-6, 2021.

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Title

WCRP Global Sea Level Budget Group: Global sea-level budget 1993–present, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 1551–1590, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-1551-2018, 2018.

Date (Creation)

2019-05-08

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Reference

Aggregate Datasetindentifier

48cff25a-1e64-49d9-9dee-ab64a6476bbc

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Document

Aggregate Datasetindentifier

8aecafc5-273a-44d1-8d29-ab2fde271449

Association Type

Cross reference

Initiative Type

Document

Language

eng

Topic category

• Oceans

Description

bounding box

Begin date

1993-01-01

Supplemental Information

display priority: 53800

Reference system identifier

EPSG / N/A

Number of dimensions

2

Dimension name

Row

Dimension name

Column

Cell geometry

Area

Transformation parameter availability

Distribution format

Name	Version
NetCDF-4

OnLine resource

Protocol	Linkage	Name
WWW:STAC	https://stac.marine.copernicus.eu/metadata/OMI_CLIMATE_SL_MEDSEA_area_averaged_anomalies/omi_climate_sl_medsea_area_averaged_anomalies_202406/dataset.stac.json	omi_climate_sl_medsea_area_averaged_anomalies

Hierarchy level

Series

Statement

The myOcean products depends on other products for production or validation. The detailed list of dependencies is given in ISO19115's aggregationInfo (ISO19139 Xpath = "gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo/gmd:aggregationInfo[./gmd:MD_AggregateInformation/gmd:initiativeType/gmd:DS_InitiativeTypeCode/@codeListValue='upstream-validation' or 'upstream-production']")

Attribute description

observation

Content type

Physical measurement

Descriptor

vertical level number: 1

Descriptor

temporal resolution: pluri-annual mean

Included with dataset

Feature types

timeseries

Metadata

File identifier

eedc2a88-c832-41c0-bfb4-2c1391bf5056

Metadata language

English

Character set

UTF8

Hierarchy level

Series

Hierarchy level name

Copernicus Marine Service product specification

Date stamp

2025-04-23T07:52:21.057472Z

Metadata standard name

ISO 19139, MyOcean profile

Metadata standard version

0.2

Metadata author

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
CMEMS		servicedesk.cmems@mercator-ocean.eu	Local service desk