• The sun shines directly on the equator during the equinoxes • The sun shines above the equator during the northern summer • The sun shines below the equator during the northern winter • The ITCZ forms directly under the area where the sun hits directly • Thus, the ITCZ moves above and below the equator depending on the season: The ITZC, as denoted by the clouds that form in it.
Full Answer
3 Why does the ITCZ move throughout the year in a regular pattern? 4 Why does the ITCZ shift above and below the equator during the summer in each hemisphere? 5 What happens during ITCZ? 6 Why do surrounding winds move near the equator? 7 How does the location of the ITCZ change over time?
• ITCZ will always be under the place where the sun hits Earth at a right angle • During the transitional and dry seasons from November to April, the ITCZ is located south of Costa Rica, either at the equator or even further south • When the ITCZ is directly over Costa Rica during July, September and October, rainfall is heaviest
Why do the ITCZ, subtropical highs, and subpolar lows all move throughout the course of the year? _____ _____ 14. How would the movement of the subtropical high affect the weather at places around 35º latitude?
As the ITCZ migrates to tropical and subtropical latitudes and even beyond during the respective hemisphere's summer season, increasing Coriolis force makes the formation of tropical cyclones within this zone more possible. Surges of higher pressure from high latitudes can enhance tropical disturbances along its axis.
The ITCZ moves throughout the year and follows the migration of the Sun's overhead position typically with a delay of around 1-2 months. As the ocean heats up more slowly than land, the ITCZ tends to move further north and south over land areas than that over water.
(2006) have revealed one important driver of ITCZ shifts: differential heating or cooling of the hemispheres shifts the ITCZ toward the differentially warming hemisphere. So when the northern hemisphere warms, for example, because northern ice cover and with it the polar albedo are reduced, the ITCZ shifts northward.
The Intertropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ, is the region that circles the Earth, near the equator, where the trade winds of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres come together. The intense sun and warm water of the equator heats the air in the ITCZ, raising its humidity and making it buoyant.Jul 11, 2000
The shifting of ITCZ is the result of the Earth's rotation, axis inclination and the translation of Earth around the Sun. Seasons are the result of this. ITCZ moves toward the hemisphere with most heat, wich are either hemisphere summers.Jan 23, 2015
In climatology As the hot air rises it cools, losing moisture; it is then transported poleward where it descends, creating the high-pressure area. This is part of the Hadley cell circulation and is known as the subtropical ridge or subtropical high, and is strongest in the summer.
They are characterized by sunny skies, calm winds, and very little precipitation. They are also known as subtropical ridges, or highs. It is a high-pressure area at the divergence of trade winds and the westerlies.
Tropical and Sub-Tropical West Africa The ITCZ is characterized by low atmospheric pressures (low intertropical pressures), as a consequence of the upward movement induced by the trade winds convergence. It results in high atmospheric pressure in the upper troposphere.
Because the ITCZ moves south in January, northern hemisphere Savanna and Monsoon areas see high pressure and therefore a distinct dry season. The opposite happens in July when the ITCZ moves north; there is a wet season in both of these climates.
It also promotes sinking air, which as you may recall, causes air parcels to warm as they compress because of increasing air pressure at lower altitudes.
During the Northern Hemisphere's summer, the oceans are generally cooler compared to the warmer continents. In turn, cooler, denser maritime air that overlies the oceans serves to boost surface pressures, paving the way for relatively robust subtropical highs during summer.
For example, the Hadley circulation in the Northern Hemisphere's summer gets nearly obliterated by the intense, uneven heating of continents and oceans at low latitudes (the interruption of the Hadley circulation during the Southern Hemisphere's summer is noticeably less pronounced).
As a result, the region of subtropical highs tends to be very dry. For example, the desert landscape of Monument Valley.
Longer term changes in the intertropical convergence zone can result in severe droughts or flooding in nearby areas. In some cases, the ITCZ may become narrow, especially when it moves away from the equator; the ITCZ can then be interpreted as a front along the leading edge of the equatorial air.
As the ITCZ migrates to tropical and subtropical latitudes and even beyond ( Shandong province of the People's Republic of China) during the respective hemisphere's summer season, increasing Coriolis force makes the formation of tropical cyclones within this zone more possible.
Variation in the location of the intertropical convergence zone drastically affects rainfall in many equatorial nations, resulting in the wet and dry seasons of the tropics rather than the cold and warm seasons of higher latitudes. Longer term changes in the intertropical convergence zone can result in severe droughts or flooding in nearby areas.
Meteorological phenomenon. The ITCZ is visible as a band of clouds encircling Earth near the Equator. The Intertropical Convergence Zone ( ITCZ, pronounced "itch" ), known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge.
As trans-equator sea voyages became more common, sailors in the eighteenth century named this belt of calm the doldrums because of the calm, stagnant, or inactive winds.
The ITCZ is formed by vertical motion largely appearing as convective activity of thunderstorms driven by solar heating, which effectively draw air in; these are the trade winds. The ITCZ is effectively a tracer of the ascending branch of the Hadley cell and is wet. The dry descending branch is the horse latitudes .
As the heat capacity of the oceans is greater than air over land, migration is more prominent over land. Over the oceans, where the convergence zone is better defined, the seasonal cycle is more subtle, as the convection is constrained by the distribution of ocean temperatures. Sometimes, a double ITCZ forms, with one located north ...
It shifts from north and south seasonally according to the movement of the Sun. For Example- when the ITCZ is shifted to north of the Equator, the southeast trade wind changes to a southwest wind as it crosses the Equator. The ITCZ shifts only between 40° to 45° of latitude north or south of the equator based on the pattern of land and ocean.
What causes ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone)? ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) is caused by the convergence of northeast and southeast trade winds in the area encircling Earth near the Equator. For better understanding, we must know about the trade winds and air masses. 1.
The ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) play important role in the global circulation system and also known as the Equatorial Convergence Zone or Intertropical Front. It is a basically low pressure belt encircling Earth near the Equator. It is a zone of convergence where the trade winds meet.
It helps in the formation of cyclone because it is a zone of wind change and speed. The ITCZ is a narrow zone where trade winds of two hemispheres collide which causes erratic weather patterns with stagnant calms and violent thunderstorms.
Trade Winds: Easterly winds that circle the Earth near the equator. 2. Air Masses: A volume of air defined by its temperature and water vapour content. In tropical latitudes this air mass is hot to very hot, with high relative humidity, bringing unstable weather.
The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is a belt of calm air where northeast trades and southeast trades converge, generally in the vicinity of the equator. The ITCZ is also known as the equatorial front, intertropical front, and the doldrums. The ITCZ's thunderstorms provide the updrafts where all the rising air of the tropics ascends.
The subtropical highs (STHs) are large semi-permanent high-pressure (anticyclone) cells centered at about 30° latitude over the oceans; have average diameters of 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) and are usually elongated east-west. They develop from the descending air of the Hadley cells.
There is weak pressure gradient in the equatorial low pressure belt.This is a region of calm winds known as the Doldrums. The high pressure belts at about 30 degree N and S are called 'Horse latitudes'.This belt is characterised by calm or light variable winds and clear weathe.