Referee comment about “Ocean signature of intense wind events in the Western Mediterranean Sea” by Francesco Ragone et al.

The Western Mediterranean Sea is often subject to intense winds, especially during the winter season. Intense winds induce surface cooling associated with anomalous ocean heat loss, upwelling and diapycnal mixing. In this study we investigate the overall impact of extreme wind events on the upper ocean in the Western Mediterranean sea using sea surface temperature and sea surface height observational data products over the period 1993–2014. We show that the largest thermal anomaly is observed a couple of days after the intense wind event and that it is dependent on the wind intensity. During winter, when deep water formation occurs, it persists for over a month. During summer, when the thermocline is very shallow, the recovery time scale is typically less than 10 days. The sea surface height signal reaches a minimum in correspondence to the intense wind, and normal conditions recover in about six weeks. Unlike for intense winds in the tropics associated to the passage of tropical cyclones, no long term sea surface height anomaly is observed, indicating that the water column heat content is not significantly modified. The observed recovery times suggest instead the possibility of feedbacks on the dynamics of intense cyclones at sub-monthly time scales.

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Ocean signature of intense wind events in the Western Mediterranean Sea

10.5194/os-2018-95 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Francesco Ragone ◽

Andrea Meli ◽

Anna Napoli ◽

Claudia Pasquero

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Winter Season ◽

Heat Content ◽

Sea Surface Height ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Sea Surface ◽

Height Anomaly ◽

Surface Cooling ◽

Western Mediterranean Sea ◽

Wind Events

Abstract. The Western Mediterranean Sea is often subject to intense winds, especially during the winter season. The effects of the enhanced enthalpy and momentum fluxes on the upper ocean is investigated using sea surface temperature and sea surface height observational data products in the period 1993–2014. The maximum surface cooling associated with the anomalous ocean heat loss, with upwelling, and with diapycnal mixing is shown to occur a couple of days after the intense wind event, to be dependent on the wind intensity and to persist for over a month during winter, when deep water is formed, and for about 10 days during summer, when the thermocline is very shallow. The sea surface height signal reaches a minimum in correspondence of the intense wind, and normal conditions recover in about six weeks. Unlike for intense winds in the tropics, associated to tropical cyclones, no long term sea surface height anomaly is observed, indicating that the water column heat content is not significantly modified.

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Abundance of Pelagia noctiluca early life stages in the western Mediterranean Sea scales with surface chlorophyll

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13423 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

D Ottmann ◽

D Álvarez-Berastegui ◽

L Prieto ◽

R Balbín ◽

F Alemany ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Early Life ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Life Stages ◽

Early Life Stages ◽

Western Mediterranean Sea ◽

Pelagia Noctiluca

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A closer look at the bycatch of medium‐sized and large sharks in the northern Catalan coast (north‐western Mediterranean Sea): Evidence of an ongoing decline?

Aquatic Conservation Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems ◽

10.1002/aqc.3651 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ignasi Nuez ◽

Manel Gazo ◽

Luis Cardona

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Western Mediterranean Sea ◽

Catalan Coast ◽

North Western

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Parasites of the head of Scomber colias (Osteichthyes: Scombridae) from the western Mediterranean Sea

Acta Parasitologica ◽

10.2478/s11686-014-0207-5 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 59 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Salvatore Mele ◽

Maria Pennino ◽

Maria Piras ◽

José Bellido ◽

Giovanni Garippa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Eastern Mediterranean ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Parasite Fauna ◽

Point Of View ◽

Published Data ◽

Multivariate Techniques ◽

Western Mediterranean Sea ◽

Scomber Colias ◽

Non Parametric

AbstractThe metazoan parasite assemblage of the head of 30 specimens of the Atlantic chub mackerel (Scomber colias) from the western Mediterranean Sea was analysed. Eight species of parasites were found, four mazocraeid monogeneans: Grubea cochlear (prevalence = 10%), Kuhnia scombercolias (59%), K. scombri (52%), Pseudokuhnia minor (86%); three didymozoid trematodes: Nematobothrium cf. faciale (21%), N. filiforme (41%), N. scombri (7%); and one laerneopodid copepod: Clavelissa scombri (7%). Results were compared with previously published data from 14 localities of the eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, using non-parametric univariate and multivariate analyses, and the whole parasite fauna of S. colias was compared with that of the congeners (S. australasicus, S. japonicus and S. scombrus). Parasites showed to reflect the biogeographical and phylogenetic history of host. From a methodological point of view, the use of both non-parametric univariate and multivariate techniques proved to be effective tools to detect dissimilarities between parasite assemblages.

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An algorithmic model for invasive species: Application to Caulerpa taxifolia (Vahl) C. Agardh development in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea

Ecological Modelling ◽

10.1016/s0304-3800(98)00058-1 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 109 (3) ◽

pp. 251-266 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

David Hill ◽

Patrick Coquillard ◽

Jean de Vaugelas ◽

Alexandre Meinesz

Keyword(s):

Invasive Species ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Caulerpa Taxifolia ◽

The North ◽

Western Mediterranean Sea ◽

Algorithmic Model ◽

North Western

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Dynamical Downscaling of ERA5 Data on the North-Western Mediterranean Sea: From Atmosphere to High-Resolution Coastal Wave Climate

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering ◽

10.3390/jmse9020208 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 208

Author(s):

Valentina Vannucchi ◽

Stefano Taddei ◽

Valerio Capecchi ◽

Michele Bendoni ◽

Carlo Brandini

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Wind Wave ◽

Dynamical Downscaling ◽

Wave Climate ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Limited Area ◽

Computational Domain ◽

Wave Hindcast ◽

The North ◽

Western Mediterranean Sea

A 29-year wind/wave hindcast is produced over the Mediterranean Sea for the period 1990–2018. The dataset is obtained by downscaling the ERA5 global atmospheric reanalyses, which provide the initial and boundary conditions for a numerical chain based on limited-area weather and wave models: the BOLAM, MOLOCH and WaveWatch III (WW3) models. In the WW3 computational domain, an unstructured mesh is used. The variable resolutions reach up to 500 m along the coasts of the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian seas (Italy), the main objects of the study. The wind/wave hindcast is validated using observations from coastal weather stations and buoys. The wind validation provides velocity correlations between 0.45 and 0.76, while significant wave height correlations are much higher—between 0.89 and 0.96. The results are also compared to the original low-resolution ERA5 dataset, based on assimilated models. The comparison shows that the downscaling improves the hindcast reliability, particularly in the coastal regions, and especially with regard to wind and wave directions.

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