DATE2019-01-08 12:44:23
IDABSTRACT2014/218
CONTACTkarina.von-schuckmann@univ-tln.fr
PRESENTATIONORAL
INVITED0
IDSESSION2
TITLEREGIONAL OCEAN INDICATORS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA FROM IN SITU MEASUREMENTS DURING 2004-2012
AUTHORSKarina von Schuckmann (1)|Giulio Notarstefano (2)|Francisco Calafat (3)|Pierre-Marie Poulain (2)|Isabelle Taupier-Letage (4)|Louis Prieur (5)|Mathieu Hamon (6)|Nicolas Reul (7)
AFFILIATIONS
  1. MIO, University of Toulon, La Garde, France
  2. OGS, Trieste, Italy
  3. NOC, Southampton, UK
  4. CNRS/Ifremer, La Seyne sur Mer, France
  5. LOV, Villefranche sur Mer, France
  6. Mercator-Ocean, Toulouse, France
  7. Ifremer, La Seyne sur Mer, France
ABSTRACTDeveloping and estimating Regional Ocean Indicators (ROIs) such as ocean heat content (OHC), ocean freshwater content (OFC) and steric sea level (SSL) is particularly important in vulnerable populated areas such as the Mediterranean basin. We have used a delayed mode quality controlled in situ temperature and salinity data set of the Mediterranean Sea from Argo floats and shipboard measurements to estimate OHC, OFC and SSL at an annual basis for the upper 700 m depth of the water column. A method based on a box averaging scheme is developed taking into account general circulation properties of the Mediterranean Sea basin. ROI uncertainty estimation are due to data processing issues and the choice of the climatology. Decadal (9-years) trends amount to 2.3±0.2 W/m2 for OHC, -900±300 km3/year for OFC and 1.1±0.3 mm/year for SSL and are predominantly triggered by corresponding intermediate depth (200-700m) fluctuations in the eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMED). At interannual time scales, ROI changes are dominant in the western Mediterranean Sea basin where SSL changes are due to an interplay of both, thermosteric and halosteric volume changes. In the EMED basin, interannual SSL variations are triggered by thermosteric volume changes alone. We compare our ROI estimates to independent ocean observing systems: satellite gravimetry from GRACE and satellite altimetry. We can close the observed Mediterranean sea level budget within error bars showing that our ROI estimates are robust.
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