Investigating extreme marine summers in the Mediterranean Sea

Denaxa, Dimitra; Korres, Gerasimos; Flaounas, Emmanouil; Hatzaki, Maria

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/os-20-433-2024

Articles | Volume 20, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-20-433-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-20-433-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 2

Research article

|

26 Mar 2024

Research article |

| 26 Mar 2024

Investigating extreme marine summers in the Mediterranean Sea

Dimitra Denaxa, Gerasimos Korres, Emmanouil Flaounas, and Maria Hatzaki

Data sets

ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1950 to 1978 (preliminary version) B. Bell et al. https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/reanalysis-era5-single-levels-preliminary-back-extension?tab=overview

ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47

Mediterranean Sea – High Resolution L4 Sea Surface Temperature Reprocessed EU Copernicus Marine Service Product https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00173

Mediterranean Sea Physics Reanalysis EU Copernicus Marine Service Product https://doi.org/10.25423/CMCC/MEDSEA_MULTIYEAR_PHY_006_004_E3R1

Short summary

This study explores extreme marine summers (EMSs) in the Mediterranean Sea using sea surface temperature (SST) data. EMSs arise mainly due to the warmest summer days being unusually warm. Air–sea heat fluxes drive EMSs in northern regions, where also enhanced marine heatwave conditions are found during EMSs. Long-term SST changes lead to warmer EMSs while not affecting the way daily SST values are organized during EMSs. Findings enhance comprehension of anomalously warm conditions in the basin.