MERCATOR OCEAN JOURNA: 
SEPTEMBER 2021 
+ — 
N N 
E s 
z z 
1 1 
+ mr a en 
A a x 5 S ha = 
a o oa oO a - 5 
Y N m N N z z 
ir— —z ir — dd — kt — ld — — 
0.25 
iz A 
N N 
E = 
— — 
I | 
(11 eh 
RT = wo Wo 
A = Te A Ca] = zz 
oo o o o oo 3 = 
I N N N I] z= - 
fl 
0.27 
m] 0.25 
“ 0.23 
0.21 
„0.19 
un 
D 
0.17 
0.15 
In Situ 
+Satellite 
Reference Year 
% A ZZ Ze CA a 
7 + Ma a Yo 0% 5%, 
0.23 
A 
a 0.21 
“0.19 
E 0.17 
0.15 
% 
% CA CA U LM D 
CC 7 G Ys Ca Ze En Ze Yo CM a 
igure &: Metrics of simulation/analysis/first-guess NRT Med-waves SWH (left) and MWP (right) computed over a reference period of 1-year 
indicated by the black triangles) and for the full Mediterranean domain, across system versions (release dates shown in the abscissa). 
2. STATUS AT THE END OF COPERNICUS 1 
Attheend of Copernicus 1,the Med-MFC provides upgraded 
NRT and Reanalysis products for each component. All 
systems share the same grid resolution (1/24°), bathymetry 
and forcing fields (atmospheric and river). 
In particular, the NRT physical system includes tidal waves 
(Clementi et al., 2020). Tidal forcing is applied along the 
lateral boundaries in the Atlantic Ocean and the tidal 
potential is calculated across the domain for the 8 major 
tidal constituents of the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, the 
data assimilation scheme is updated to account for the 
tidal signal in the SLA altimeter tracks. A new variable, the 
de-tided sea level, is also delivered to prevent possible 
inconsistencies in downstream applications not accounting 
for tides. 
The validation of the new system shows an overall good 
skill of all considered tidal constituents when compared to 
tide gauges, literature values and barotropic tidal model 
solutions. The physical Multi-Year product is also enlarged 
by including an INTERIM dataset produced by forcing the 
reanalysis system with ECMWF ERA5 and ERA5-T 
atmospheric fields and assimilating NRT observations 
\Nigam et al., 2020). This new dataset covers the period 
from the last day of reanalysis up to 1 month before present 
and is extended on a monthly basis. 
The biogeochemical NRT system provides 14 validated 
oroducts as a result of an iImpressive iImprovement of the 
validation framework that includes historical (WOA 2018, 
zmodnet 2018, Socat 2019), operational in situ (e.g., BGC- 
Argo) and satellite (OceanColour-TAC) datasets. Latest 
updates are: 
- multiplatform (Satellite and BGC-Argo) and multivariate 
(nitrate and Chlorophyll) data assimilation, 
-the latest BFMv5.2 biogeochemical version (code 
updates), 
- new Atlantic open boundary conditions, 
- dependencies, such as the Kd (Ocean Colour-TAC) for 
bio-optics coupling. 
These advancements are stepping stones for the next 
Copernicus 2 phase of developments of the biogeochemical 
system. By the way, a new biogeochemical reanalysis was 
delivered in May 2021 (see Table 2). 
The Med-waves NRT system, run twice per day, operates 
hourly surface MedFS currents and sea level and wave 
refraction. Meanwhile CFOSAT and H2B SWH observations 
are additionally ingested into the assimilation module to 
ıncrease the quality of the Mediterranean wave analyses. 
n May 2021, a new 27-year (1993 - 2019) wave reanalysis 
was delivered. It is produced using ERA5 10 m hourly 
winds, reanalysis surface currents and the assimilation of 
along-track SWH observations from all available satellite 
missions over the period. Intercomparison with previous 
multi-year timeseries (hindcast over the period 2006 —- 
2019) using wave buoy observations shows that the two 
sets have very similar skill during their overlapping period.