The influence of concentrated heating on the Hadley circulation

Journal Article · Wed Jul 15 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1992)049<1233:TIOCHO>2.0.CO;2· OSTI ID:5572281

Hou, A Y ^[1]; Lindzen, R S ^[2]

---

1. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States)
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States)

This study extends the earlier work on Hadley circulations forced by broad, global heating distributions to situations where heating is latitudinally concentrated. In the case of heating symmetrically centered on the equator, concentration unambiguously increases the intensity of the Hadley circulation-by up to a factor of 5. For heating centered off the equator, its effect depends on whether the concentration is drawn symmetrically from both sides of the heating maximum or whether the heat is preferentially drawn from the winter side. In the latter case, concentration again leads to pronounced intensification of the Hadley circulation. Indeed, agreement between the calculated and observed Hadley intensity is achieved with mild concentration, consistent with the observed zonally averaged precipitation, rather than the narrower rainfall association with the ITCZ. This suggests that a weakening of those processes that broaden the zonally averaged rainfall (i.e., the easterly waves and regional land processes) would result in a much stronger Hadley circulation. The implication of this work is that a small change in the tropical heating distribution can profoundly alter the intensity of the Hadley circulation and the baroclinicity in the extratropics. This can, in turn, modulate wave transport in the middle and high latitudes, resulting in significant changes in the global climate. 82 refs., 24 figs.

• OSTI ID: 5572281
• Journal Information: Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences; (United States) Vol. 49:14; ISSN 0022-4928; ISSN JAHSAK
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540110*
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
GLOBAL ASPECTS
HEATING
METEOROLOGY