The Interannual Variability of Tropical Precipitation and Interhemispheric Energy Transport
The interannual variability of the location of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is strongly (R = 0.75) correlated with the atmospheric heat transport across the equator (AHTEQ) over the satellite era (1979–2009). A 1° northward displacement of the ITCZ is associated with 0.34 PW of anomalou...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Meteorological Society
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91980 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9230-3591 |
| _version_ | 1811072692126744576 |
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| author | Donohoe, Aaron Ferreira, David Armour, Kyle Marshall, John C McGee, William David |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Donohoe, Aaron Ferreira, David Armour, Kyle Marshall, John C McGee, William David |
| author_sort | Donohoe, Aaron |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The interannual variability of the location of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is strongly (R = 0.75) correlated with the atmospheric heat transport across the equator (AHTEQ) over the satellite era (1979–2009). A 1° northward displacement of the ITCZ is associated with 0.34 PW of anomalous AHTEQ from north to south. The AHTEQ and precipitation anomalies are both associated with an intensification of the climatological Hadley cell that is displaced north of the equator. This relationship suggests that the tropical precipitation variability is driven by a hemispheric asymmetry of energy input to the atmosphere at all latitudes by way of the constraint that AHTEQ is balanced by a hemispheric asymmetry in energy input to the atmosphere.
A 500-yr coupled model simulation also features strong interannual correlations between the ITCZ location and AHTEQ. The interannual variability of AHTEQ in the model is associated with a hemispheric asymmetry in the top of the atmosphere radiative anomalies in the tropics with the Northern Hemisphere gaining energy when the ITCZ is displaced northward. The surface heat fluxes make a secondary contribution to the interannual variability of AHTEQ despite the fact that the interannual variability of the ocean heat transport across the equator (OHTEQ) is comparable in magnitude to that in AHTEQ. The OHTEQ makes a minimal impact on the atmospheric energy budget because the vast majority of the interannual variability in OHTEQ is stored in the subsurface ocean and, thus, the interannual variability of OHTEQ does not strongly impact the atmospheric circulation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:10:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/91980 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:10:19Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | American Meteorological Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/919802024-05-15T02:21:18Z The Interannual Variability of Tropical Precipitation and Interhemispheric Energy Transport Donohoe, Aaron Ferreira, David Armour, Kyle Marshall, John C McGee, William David Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Donohoe, Aaron Marshall, John C. Ferreira, David Armour, Kyle McGee, David The interannual variability of the location of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is strongly (R = 0.75) correlated with the atmospheric heat transport across the equator (AHTEQ) over the satellite era (1979–2009). A 1° northward displacement of the ITCZ is associated with 0.34 PW of anomalous AHTEQ from north to south. The AHTEQ and precipitation anomalies are both associated with an intensification of the climatological Hadley cell that is displaced north of the equator. This relationship suggests that the tropical precipitation variability is driven by a hemispheric asymmetry of energy input to the atmosphere at all latitudes by way of the constraint that AHTEQ is balanced by a hemispheric asymmetry in energy input to the atmosphere. A 500-yr coupled model simulation also features strong interannual correlations between the ITCZ location and AHTEQ. The interannual variability of AHTEQ in the model is associated with a hemispheric asymmetry in the top of the atmosphere radiative anomalies in the tropics with the Northern Hemisphere gaining energy when the ITCZ is displaced northward. The surface heat fluxes make a secondary contribution to the interannual variability of AHTEQ despite the fact that the interannual variability of the ocean heat transport across the equator (OHTEQ) is comparable in magnitude to that in AHTEQ. The OHTEQ makes a minimal impact on the atmospheric energy budget because the vast majority of the interannual variability in OHTEQ is stored in the subsurface ocean and, thus, the interannual variability of OHTEQ does not strongly impact the atmospheric circulation. NOAA Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellowship Program James S. McDonnell Foundation (Postdoctoral Fellowship) 2014-12-01T20:47:54Z 2014-12-01T20:47:54Z 2014-05 2014-01 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0894-8755 1520-0442 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91980 Donohoe, Aaron, John Marshall, David Ferreira, Kyle Armour, and David McGee. “The Interannual Variability of Tropical Precipitation and Interhemispheric Energy Transport.” J. Climate 27, no. 9 (May 2014): 3377–3392. © 2014 American Meteorological Society. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9230-3591 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00499.1 Journal of Climate Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Meteorological Society American Meteorological Society |
| spellingShingle | Donohoe, Aaron Ferreira, David Armour, Kyle Marshall, John C McGee, William David The Interannual Variability of Tropical Precipitation and Interhemispheric Energy Transport |
| title | The Interannual Variability of Tropical Precipitation and Interhemispheric Energy Transport |
| title_full | The Interannual Variability of Tropical Precipitation and Interhemispheric Energy Transport |
| title_fullStr | The Interannual Variability of Tropical Precipitation and Interhemispheric Energy Transport |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Interannual Variability of Tropical Precipitation and Interhemispheric Energy Transport |
| title_short | The Interannual Variability of Tropical Precipitation and Interhemispheric Energy Transport |
| title_sort | interannual variability of tropical precipitation and interhemispheric energy transport |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91980 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9230-3591 |
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