The Relationship between ITCZ Location and Cross-Equatorial Atmospheric Heat Transport: From the Seasonal Cycle to the Last Glacial Maximum
Open accessAbstract
The authors quantify the relationship between the location of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and the atmospheric heat transport across the equator (AHTEQ) in climate models and in observations. The observed zonal mean ITCZ location varies from 5.3°S in the boreal winter to 7.2°N in the boreal summer with an annual mean position of 1.65°N while the AHTEQ varies from 2.1 PW northward in the boreal winter to 2.3 PW southward in the boreal summer with an annual mean of 0.1 PW southward. Seasonal variations in the ITCZ location and AHTEQ are highly anticorrelated in the observations and in a suite of state-of-the-art coupled climate models with regression coefficients of −2.7° and −2.4° PW−1 respectively. It is also found that seasonal variations in ITCZ location and AHTEQ are well correlated in a suite of slab ocean aquaplanet simulations with varying ocean mixed layer depths. However, the regression coefficient between ITCZ location and AHTEQ decreases with decreasing mixed layer depth as a consequence of the asymmetry that develops between the winter and summer Hadley cells as the ITCZ moves farther off the equator. The authors go on to analyze the annual mean change in ITCZ location and AHTEQ in an ensemble of climate perturbation experiments including the response to CO2 doubling, simulations of the Last Glacial Maximum, and simulations of the mid-Holocene. The shift in the annual average ITCZ location is also strongly anticorrelated with the change in annual mean AHTEQ with a regression coefficient of −3.2° PW−1, similar to that found over the seasonal cycle.
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The interhemispheric difference in AOD affects regional monsoon rainfall by shifting the location of the Intertropical Convergence Zone.
“The interhemispheric difference in AOD affects regional monsoon rainfall by shifting the location of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (61).”
From Earth beyond six of nine planetary boundaries (2023) · cites this paper as [61]
The Introduction links hemispheric differences in atmospheric energy input—including influences from aerosols—to shifts in the ITCZ. But the paper does not establish that an interhemispheric difference in aerosol optical depth (AOD) affects regional monsoon rainfall. The Summary and discussion says the analysis focuses on zonal-mean tropical precipitation, questions its applicability to localized records, and notes that causality was not demonstrated (page numbers unavailable). (LLM, conf=0.86)
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“The southward shift of the ITCZ results from increased northward atmospheric heat transport into the colder hemisphere during phases of weak AMOC that is necessary to compensate the interhemispheric heat imbalance, and is in line with an intensification and a crossequatorial extension of the Northern Hemisphere Hadley…”
Background
- Authors
- Donohoe, A., Marshall, J., Ferreira, D., & Mcgee, D.
- Affiliations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Climate
- Publisher
- American Meteorological Society
- Published
- 2013-05-31
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 3597-3618
- ISSN
- 0894-8755 (ISSN-L)
- 1520-0442
- OpenAlex
- W2111694406
- Cited by
- 404
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 48 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 42 · 2019: 42 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 7
- FWCI
- 9.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Climate (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Office of Science
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate variability and models
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Keywords
- Intertropical Convergence Zone, seasonal cycle, Last Glacial Maximum, mid-Holocene, mixed layer depth, aquaplanet simulations, CO2 doubling, coupled climate model
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