Articles | Volume 21, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-199-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
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the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
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https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-199-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
27 Jan 2025
Research article |
| 27 Jan 2025
| 27 Jan 2025
Estimating ocean currents from the joint reconstruction of absolute dynamic topography and sea surface temperature through deep learning algorithms
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze Marine (CNR-ISMAR), 00133, Rome, Italy
Claudia Fanelli
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze Marine (CNR-ISMAR), 80133, Naples, Italy
Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze Marine (CNR-ISMAR), 80133, Naples, Italy
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Sea surface temperature (SST) is an essential variable to understanding the Earth's climate system, and its accurate monitoring from space is essential. Since satellite measurements are hindered by cloudy/rainy conditions, data gaps are present even in merged multi-sensor products. Since optimal interpolation techniques tend to smooth out small-scale features, we developed a deep learning model to enhance the effective resolution of gap-free SST images over the Mediterranean Sea to address this.
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Estimating 3D currents is crucial for the understanding of ocean dynamics, and a precise knowledge of ocean circulation is essential to ensure a sustainable ocean. In this context, a new high-resolution (1 / 10°) data-driven dataset of 3D ocean currents has been developed within the European Space Agency World Ocean Circulation project, providing 10 years (2010–2019) of horizontal and vertical quasi-geostrophic currents at daily resolution over the North Atlantic Ocean, down to 1500 m depth.
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This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geoscientific Model Development (GMD).
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Anna Teruzzi, Ali Aydogdu, Carolina Amadio, Emanuela Clementi, Simone Colella, Valeria Di Biagio, Massimiliano Drudi, Claudia Fanelli, Laura Feudale, Alessandro Grandi, Pietro Miraglio, Andrea Pisano, Jenny Pistoia, Marco Reale, Stefano Salon, Gianluca Volpe, and Gianpiero Cossarini
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A noticeable cold spell occurred in Eastern Europe at the beginning of 2022 and was the main driver of intense deep-water formation and the associated transport of nutrients to the surface. Southeast of Crete, the availability of both light and nutrients in the surface layer stimulated an anomalous phytoplankton bloom. In the area, chlorophyll concentration (a proxy for bloom intensity) and primary production were considerably higher than usual, suggesting possible impacts on fishery catches.
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Vincenzo de Toma, Daniele Ciani, Yassmin Hesham Essa, Chunxue Yang, Vincenzo Artale, Andrea Pisano, Davide Cavaliere, Rosalia Santoleri, and Andrea Storto
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 5145–5165, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5145-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5145-2024, 2024
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Sarah Asdar, Daniele Ciani, and Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1029–1046, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1029-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1029-2024, 2024
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Estimating 3D currents is crucial for the understanding of ocean dynamics, and a precise knowledge of ocean circulation is essential to ensure a sustainable ocean. In this context, a new high-resolution (1 / 10°) data-driven dataset of 3D ocean currents has been developed within the European Space Agency World Ocean Circulation project, providing 10 years (2010–2019) of horizontal and vertical quasi-geostrophic currents at daily resolution over the North Atlantic Ocean, down to 1500 m depth.
Andrea Pisano, Daniele Ciani, Salvatore Marullo, Rosalia Santoleri, and Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 4111–4128, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4111-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4111-2022, 2022
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A new operational diurnal sea surface temperature (SST) product has been developed within the Copernicus Marine Service, providing gap-free hourly mean SST fields from January 2019 to the present. This product is able to accurately reproduce the diurnal cycle, the typical day–night SST oscillation mainly driven by solar heating, including extreme diurnal warming events. This product can thus represent a valuable dataset to improve the study of those processes that require a subdaily frequency.
Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli
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To better understand ocean dynamics and assess their responses and feedbacks to natural and anthropogenic pressures, 3D ocean circulation estimates are needed. Here we present the OMEGA3D product, an observation-based time series (1993–2018) of global 3D ocean currents developed within the European Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service. OMEGA3D provides vertical velocities – an observational barrier due to their small intensity – and full horizontal velocities down to 1500 m depth.
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Approach: Remote Sensing | Properties and processes: Mesoscale to submesoscale dynamics
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Our research evaluated the precision of mapping the ocean's surface with combined data from a couple of satellites, focusing on dynamic aspects revealed by sea level changes. Results show that 2DVAR, a new mapping product, aligns more closely and with less error with the most advanced satellite detailed observations than a widely used mapping product called AVISO. The results suggest that 2DVAR better detects minor ocean movements, making it more valuable and reliable for ocean dynamics study.
Claudia Fanelli, Daniele Ciani, Andrea Pisano, and Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli
Ocean Sci., 20, 1035–1050, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-20-1035-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-20-1035-2024, 2024
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Sea surface temperature (SST) is an essential variable to understanding the Earth's climate system, and its accurate monitoring from space is essential. Since satellite measurements are hindered by cloudy/rainy conditions, data gaps are present even in merged multi-sensor products. Since optimal interpolation techniques tend to smooth out small-scale features, we developed a deep learning model to enhance the effective resolution of gap-free SST images over the Mediterranean Sea to address this.
Yingjie Liu and Xiaofeng Li
Ocean Sci., 19, 1579–1593, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-1579-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-1579-2023, 2023
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The study developed a deep learning model that effectively distinguishes between surface- and subsurface-intensified eddies in the northern Indian Ocean by integrating sea surface height and temperature data. The accurate distinction between these types of eddies provides valuable insights into their dynamics and their impact on marine ecosystems in the northern Indian Ocean and contributes to understanding the complex interactions between eddy dynamics and biogeochemical processes in the ocean.
Florian Le Guillou, Lucile Gaultier, Maxime Ballarotta, Sammy Metref, Clément Ubelmann, Emmanuel Cosme, and Marie-Helène Rio
Ocean Sci., 19, 1517–1527, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-1517-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-1517-2023, 2023
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Altimetry provides sea surface height (SSH) data along one-dimensional tracks. For many applications, the tracks are interpolated in space and time to provide gridded SSH maps. The operational SSH gridded products filter out the small-scale signals measured on the tracks. This paper evaluates the performances of a recently implemented dynamical method to retrieve the small-scale signals from real SSH data. We show a net improvement in the quality of SSH maps when compared to independent data.
Elisa Carli, Rosemary Morrow, Oscar Vergara, Robin Chevrier, and Lionel Renault
Ocean Sci., 19, 1413–1435, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-1413-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-1413-2023, 2023
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Oceanic eddies are the structures carrying most of the energy in our oceans. They are key to climate regulation and nutrient transport. We prepare for the Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission, studying eddy dynamics in the region south of Africa, where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet, using models and simulated satellite data. SWOT will provide insights into the structures smaller than what is currently observable, which appear to greatly contribute to eddy kinetic energy and strain.
Cited articles
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Short summary
Ocean surface currents are routinely derived from satellite observations of the sea level, allowing regional- to global-scale synoptic monitoring. In order to overcome the theoretical and instrumental limits of this methodology, we exploit the synergy of multi-sensor satellite observations. We rely on deep learning, physics-informed algorithms to predict ocean currents from sea surface height and sea surface temperature observations. Results are validated by means of in situ measurements.
Ocean surface currents are routinely derived from satellite observations of the sea level,...
