according to general circulation model (gcm), zonal thermal belts are 1- inter-tropical convergence zones (itcz) around eqator; 2- sub tropical high (sth) belt around 30 degree latitude; 3- sub polar low (spl) belt around high latitudes. the belt of inter-tropical convergence zone (itcz) displaces in meridional path, about 5° over the oceans and up to 40° over continents, during the seasons of ...

[1] Recent paleoproxy records suggest that the mean latitude of the Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) varied synchronously with North Atlantic climate over a range of timescales throughout the Holocene and Last Glacial Maximum. We show that the present-day ‘‘meridional mode’’ of atmosphere-ocean variability in the tropical Atlantic is a potentially useful model for understanding th...

[1] We investigate causes of interannual variability in Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) convection using a monthly mean global precipitation data set spanning 1979–1999. Starting from the hypothesis of two dominant influences on the ITCZ, namely, the cross-equatorial gradient in tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) and the anomalous Walker circulation due to the rearra...

Tropospheric winds can be altered by vertical transfers of momentum due to orographic gravity waves and convection. Previous work showed that, in dry models, such zonally asymmetric torques produce a pattern of tropical ascent that is well described by linear dynamics, together withmeridional shifts of the midlatitude jet. Here a series of idealizedmodels is used to understand the effects of mo...

The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) narrows in response to global warming in both observations and climate models. However, a physical understanding of this narrowing is lacking. Here we show that the narrowing of the ITCZ in simulations of future climate is related to changes in the moist static energy (MSE) budget. MSE advection by the mean circulation and MSE divergence by transient ed...

We examine the mean and transient state of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) by analyzing data and using simple theory. We concentrate on the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean noting that there exists in this region a well-developed mean ITCZ. Furthermore, it is a region where there has been considerable discussion in the literature of whether easterly waves develop in situ or propagate we...

Volcanic aerosols exert the most important natural radiative forcing of the last millennium. Stateof-the-art paleoclimate simulations of this interval are typically forced with diverse spatial patterns of volcanic forcing, leading to different responses in tropical hydroclimate. Recently, theoretical considerations relating the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) position to the demands of gl...

In satellite images the ITCZ (intertropical convergence zone) is sometimes observed to undulate and break down into a series of tropical disturbances. Tropical cyclones may later develop within these disturbances and move into higher latitudes allowing the ITCZ to reform. It has been proposed that ITCZ breakdown results from a convectively modified form of combined barotropic and baroclinic ins...

A variety of observational and modeling studies show that changes in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) can induce rapid global-scale climate change. In particular, a substantially weakened AMOC leads to a southward shift of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. However, the simulated amplitudes of the AMOC-induced tropical cl...

The dynamical factors controlling the mean state and variability of the east Pacific intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and the associated cross-equatorial boundary layer flow are investigated using observations from the East Pacific Investigation of Climate (EPIC2001) project. The tropical east Pacific exhibits a southerly boundary layer flow that terminates in the ITCZ. This flow is induce...