The Near Real Time (NRT) operational products developed from satellite data (AVHRR, Topex/Poseidon, Ers-2) in the framework of the Mediterranean Forecasting System Pilot Project (MFSPP, autumn 1998–autumn 2000) are described and compared to delayed time products over the Mediterranean sea. MFSPP SLA and SST data are then discussed in the general context of the Mediterranean circulation, showing the interannual variability of the fields and identifying recurrent or anomalous features at mesoscale/sub-basin scales. Finally, MFSPP data are used to test, on a regional (Mediterranean) context, a multivariate method to identify coupled modes of variability, consisting in the SVD of the covariance between SST and SLA.