Editing Intertropical Convergence Zone (section)

==Meteorology== 
The ITCZ was originally identified from the 1920s to the 1940s as the ''Intertropical Front'' (''ITF''), but after the recognition in the 1940s and the 1950s of the significance of [[convergence zone|wind field convergence]] in [[tropics|tropical]] weather production, the term ''Intertropical Convergence Zone'' (''ITCZ'') was then applied.<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Barry, Roger Graham |author2-link=Richard Chorley |author2=Chorley, Richard J. |title=Atmosphere, weather, and climate|year=1992|oclc=249331900|url=https://archive.org/details/atmosphereweathe0000barr_l0e0|url-access=registration|quote=Atmosphere, weather, and climate.|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-07760-6|author1-link=Roger G. Barry }}</ref>

The ITCZ appears as a band of clouds, usually thunderstorms, that encircle the globe near the Equator. In the [[Northern Hemisphere]], the [[trade winds]] move in a southwestward direction from the northeast, while in the [[Southern Hemisphere]], they move northwestward from the southeast. When the ITCZ is positioned north or south of the Equator, these directions change according to the [[Coriolis effect]] imparted by [[Earth's rotation]]. For instance, when the ITCZ is situated north of the Equator, the southeast trade wind changes to a southwest wind as it crosses the Equator. The ITCZ is formed by vertical motion largely appearing as [[convection|convective]] activity of thunderstorms driven by solar heating, which effectively draw air in; these are the trade winds.<ref name="noaa">{{cite web|title=Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone|url=http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream//tropics/itcz.htm|work=JetStream - Online School for Weather| publisher=[[NOAA]]|date=2007-10-24|access-date=2009-06-04}}</ref> 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]].

The location of the ITCZ gradually varies with the seasons, roughly corresponding with the location of the thermal equator. 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Inter_Tropical_Convergence_Zone_(ITCZ)|title=Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) - SKYbrary Aviation Safety|website=www.skybrary.aero|language=en|access-date=2018-04-12}}</ref> Sometimes, a double ITCZ forms, with one located north and another south of the Equator, one of which is usually stronger than the other. When this occurs, a narrow ridge of high pressure forms between the two convergence zones.