Seasonal Variations of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone Studies with an Interacting Atmosphere and Ocean Model
Abstract
A simple, four-level primitive-equation model of a zonally-symmetric tropical atmosphere has been combined with a two-layer model of the upper tropical ocean in order to predict three years of inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) behavior under the influence of seasonally-variable solar heating of the sea. A cold equatorial surface develops on account of oceanic upwelling and vertical mixing; a single ITCZ establishes itself, off the equator, over the surface temperature maximum in the warmer hemisphere. This convergence zone migrates quickly between hemispheres, with only a minor lag, when the progress of the seasons causes the hemispheric surface temperature asymmetry to reverse every half year. Such behavior is qualitatively in accord with that of the updraft branch of the mean tropical Hadley circulation in the real atmosphere. The lag of maximum sub-equatorial sea surface temperature behind the overhead sun of late summer is computed to be about nine weeks.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1971
- Accession Number
- AD0720266
Entities
People
- Arthur C. Pike
Organizations
- Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science