| Summary: | This work focuses on the Sea Surface Temperature diurnal cycle reconstruction over the Mediterranean Sea by combining numerical model analyses and geostationary satellite measurements. Our approach is to take advantage of geostationary satellite observations as the diurnal signal source to produce gap‐free optimally interpolated (OI) hourly SST fields using model analyses as first guess. The work is focused on summer 2011 including all the data and model output from June 1st to August 31st 2011. The OI interpolation estimate, the model first guess (provided by an operational forecasting model) and the SEVIRI data (provided by O&SI SAF) were evaluated using drifter and mooring data as a references. Special attention was devoted to the analysis of Diurnal Warming (DW) events that were particularly frequent during this period. Results suggest the following: 1) the model reproduces quite well the Mediterranean SST diurnal cycle with the exclusion of intense DW events but the amplitude of the model cycle is often less intense than the corresponding SEVIRI and drifter observations, due to the different thickness of the surface ocean layer they represent. Time shifts between model and data warming/cooling phases of the day are also discussed. 2) The Diurnal OI SST field (DOISST), resulting from the blending of model and SEVIRI data via optimal interpolation, well reproduces the diurnal cycle (including DW events) leaving substantially unchanged the statistics of the difference between SEVIRI and drifter measurements also in data void positions where the interpolation operates. This research was supported by the MyOcean-2 project of the European Union 7th Framework Programme. The data from the EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Ocean and Sea Ice are accessible through the SAF’s homepage: http://www.osi-saf.org Submitted 40 3.7. Dinamica del clima e dell'oceano JCR Journal restricted
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