A 25-years dataset of ageostrophic, Ekman and Stokes surface currents in the Mediterranean Sea (AGESC-Med)

A 25-years surface velocity data-set for the Mediterranean Sea is presented in this paper. The velocity data is obtained using a modified Ekman model which allows us to obtain an analytical solution for the surface currents using satellite altimetry and available wind and waves data from synoptic observations. The new database consists of 6-hourly ocean surface velocities (integrated over one-meter depth) including the geostrophic component and the Ekman and Stokes velocity components driven by the wind and waves, between 1993 to 2018, and covering the whole Mediterranean Sea with a spatial resolution of [Formula: see text]. The resulting Ageostrophic, Ekman and Stokes Currents in the Mediterranean basin (AGESC-Med) was validated validated with real drifters collected by the Italian National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS). The AGECS-Med product improves the currently available sea surfave velocity fields obtained from altimetry, as well as analyze the meoscale ageostrophic dynamics induced by wind and waves.