Hadley Circulations for Zonally Averaged Heating Centered off the Equator

Richard S. Lindzen Department of Earth, Atmospheric. and Planetary Sciences, MIT, Cambridge. Massachusetts

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Arthur V. Hou AER, Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Abstract

Consistent with observations, we find that moving peak heating even 2 degrees off the equator leads to profound asymmetries in the Hadley circulation, with the winter cell amplifying greatly and the summer cell becoming negligible. It is found that the annually averaged Hadley circulation is much larger than the circulation forced by the annually averaged beating. Implications for the general circulation are discussed, as are implications for Milankovitch forcing of climate variations and for tropical meteorology and oceanography.

Abstract

Consistent with observations, we find that moving peak heating even 2 degrees off the equator leads to profound asymmetries in the Hadley circulation, with the winter cell amplifying greatly and the summer cell becoming negligible. It is found that the annually averaged Hadley circulation is much larger than the circulation forced by the annually averaged beating. Implications for the general circulation are discussed, as are implications for Milankovitch forcing of climate variations and for tropical meteorology and oceanography.

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