35, n = 372) over the Adriatic and Aegean sub-basins ( Figure 5h). However, the maximum positive correlation between Fos and SST (R > 0.6, n = 372)

occurs over the Adriatic and Aegean sub-basins and the Black Sea. The effect of air-sea heat fluxes on SST displays seasonal behaviour. The percentage of the study area in which Fn significantly affects SST ranges from 14% in winter to 59% in autumn. However, the percentage of the study area in which Fos significantly affects SST ranges from 45% in summer to 100% in autumn. This result supports PF 01367338 the previous findings of Skliris et al. (2012), who found that the Mediterranean SST variability is largely explained by air-sea heat fluxes. Analysis of results for the different Fn components indicates that the study area SST is explained by

the sensible heat flux, net long-wave radiation and latent heat flux values. This is in disagreement with the previous findings of Skliris et al. (2012), who stated that the latent heat explains more of the Mediterranean SST than do the other Fn components. This disagreement is probably because Skliris et al. (2012) examined a study period extending only from 1985 to 2008 and used a different database to extract air-sea heat fluxes. Annual correlations between SST and NAO, SLP, P, TCC, τax, τay, T2m, Fn and Fos were significant over 38%, 55%, see more 16%, Montelukast Sodium 55%, 18%, 25%, 100%, 54% and 26% of the study area respectively (data not shown). This may indicate that the interannual correlations of the studied atmospheric parameters explain less of the Mediterranean SST variability over the study area than do the monthly correlations.

The only exception is Fn, the inter-annual correlations of which explain more of the Mediterranean SST variability than do the monthly correlation. In this section, time series analysis is used to reveal the SST variation between the 10 sub-basins of the study area, all of which display an annual positive trend ranging from 0.024 °C yr− 1 to 0.05 °C yr− 1 (Figure 6 and Table 2). The 10 studied sub-basins display a range of annual average SST values of approximately 6.2 °C, ranging from 15.0 °C in the Black Sea to 21.2 °C in the Levantine sub-basin. The annual average SST of the AAM sub-basin is approximately 0.6 °C higher than that of the adjacent Mediterranean Sea sub-basin, i.e. the Alboran sub-basin, most markedly in autumn. However, the annual average SST of the Black Sea is approximately 4.1 °C lower than that of the adjacent Mediterranean Sea sub-basin, i.e. the Aegean sub-basin, most markedly in winter (Figure 6 and Table 2). The annual average COV of the study area SST displays important spatial variability: the maximum variability occurs over the Black Sea (COV = 42%), while the minimum variability occurs over the AAM sub-basin (COV = 11.8%).