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Is the Intertropical Convergence Zone wet or dry?
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.
What are the characteristics of Intertropical Convergence Zone?
The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) lies in the equatorial trough, a permanent low-pressure feature where surface trade winds, laden with heat and moisture, converge to form a zone of increased convection, cloudiness, and precipitation.
What is the Intertropical Convergence Zone and why is it important?
It moves north in the Northern Hemisphere summer and south in the Northern Hemisphere winter. Therefore, the ITCZ is responsible for the wet and dry seasons in the tropics. The sun crosses the equator twice a year in March and September, and consequently makes for two wet seasons each year.
What does the ITCZ bring?
As the ITCZ moves north with the thermal equator, it carries the mT winds over the land. This will bring dry weather. As the ITCZ moves north with the thermal equator, it carries the mT winds over the land. This will bring wet weather.
What is the full form of ITCZ?
ITCZ stands for Intertropical Convergence Zone. It is an area between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere where winds converge from the mid-latitudes blowing equator-ward and winds flowing poleward from the tropics.
Where is ITCZ now?
In July and August, over the Atlantic and Pacific, the ITCZ is between 5 and 15 degrees north of the Equator, but further north over the land masses of Africa and Asia. In eastern Asia, the ITCZ may propagate up to 30 degrees north of the Equator.
How does the ITCZ affect rainfall?
Seasonal shifts in the location of the ITCZ 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 ITCZ can result in severe droughts or flooding in nearby areas.
Why does it rain in ITCZ?
The area near the equator with low pressure and converging, rising winds is called the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Water vapor condenses as air rises and cools in the ITCZ, forming clouds and falling as rain.
Why does the ITCZ move seasonally?
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.
Which continent has least rainfall?
Australia
Australia, with the lowest rainfall, discharges the least in consequence. Antarctica is an exception: it is very dry, and very little snow sublimates….Water balance of the continents.
| region | Antarctica |
|---|---|
| precipitation: mm/a | 110 |
| discharge mm/a | 100 |
| ratio: percent | 94 |
| evaporation mm/a | 10 |
Why is ITCZ called doldrums?
The rising air mass finally subsides in what is known as the horse latitudes, where the air moves downward toward Earth’s surface. Because the air circulates in an upward direction, there is often little surface wind in the ITCZ. And that’s why they call it the doldrums.
Why is the ITCZ not a straight line?
The ITCZ has a mean position north of the equator because there is much more landmass in the Northern Hemisphere as compared to the Southern Hemisphere. Look at a globe and notice how much more land there is in the tropics in the Northern Hemisphere.
What are the fundamentals of the Intertropical Convergence Zone?
The Fundamentals of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. The ITCZ: The Wettest Part of the Planet. Geography. Near the equator, from about 5 degrees north and 5 degrees south, the northeast trade winds and southeast trade winds converge in a low-pressure zone known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).
Which is closer to the equator the ITCZ or the equator?
The ITCZ over land ventures farther north or south than the ITCZ over the oceans, this is due to the variations in land and water temperatures. The zone mostly stays close to the Equator over water.
How does the ITCZ affect the tropics?
As the air rises it expands and cools, releasing the accumulated moisture in an almost perpetual series of thunderstorms. Seasonal shifts in the location of the ITCZ 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.
Is the meteorological equator in the lower troposphere?
Generally, at high altitudes over the ocean, the Meteorological Equator remains vertically structured in the vicinity of the Geographical Equator. But, overland, the Meteorological Equator forms an oblique, northward dipping plane in the lower troposphere, the so-called Intertropical Front (ITF) structure or Inclined Meteorological Equator (IME).