Editing Intertropical Convergence Zone

{{short description|Meteorological phenomenon}}
{{redirect|The Calms|other uses|Calm (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Doldrums|other uses|Doldrums (disambiguation)}}
[[File:IntertropicalConvergenceZone-EO.jpg|thumb|350px|The ITCZ is visible as a band of clouds encircling Earth near the Equator.]]

The '''Intertropical Convergence Zone''' ('''ITCZ''' {{IPAc-en|ɪ|tʃ}} {{respell|ITCH}}, or '''ICZ'''),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.weather.gov/jetstream/itcz |title=ITCZ |publisher=[[National Weather Service]]}}</ref> known by sailors as the '''doldrums'''<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Doldrums |volume=8 |page=386}}</ref> or the '''calms''' because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast [[trade winds]] converge. It encircles Earth near the [[thermal equator]] though its specific position varies seasonally. When it lies near the geographic [[equator]], it is called the '''near-equatorial trough'''. Where the ITCZ is drawn into and merges with a [[monsoon|monsoonal]] circulation, it is sometimes referred to as a ''[[monsoon trough]]'' (a usage that is more common in Australia and parts of Asia).

==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.

== ITCZ over oceans vs. land ==
[[File:ITCZ Africa.png|thumb|Seasonal variability of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), Congo air boundary (CAB), tropical rainbelt, and surface winds over Africa (adapted from [https://oxfordre.com/climatescience/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228620.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228620-e-511 Dezfuli 2017] with modification). This schematic shows that the ITCZ and the region of maximum rainfall can be decoupled over the continents.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Dezfuli|first=Amin|date=2017-03-29|title=Climate of Western and Central Equatorial Africa|url=https://oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228620.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228620-e-511|journal=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science|language=en|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190228620.013.511|isbn=9780190228620|url-access=subscription}}</ref>]]

The ITCZ is commonly defined as an equatorial zone where the trade winds converge. Rainfall seasonality is traditionally attributed to the north–south migration of the ITCZ, which follows the sun. Although this is largely valid over the equatorial oceans, the ITCZ and the region of maximum rainfall can be decoupled over the continents.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nicholson|first=Sharon E.|date=February 2018|title=The ITCZ and the Seasonal Cycle over Equatorial Africa|journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society |volume=99 |issue=2 |pages=337–348 |doi=10.1175/bams-d-16-0287.1 |bibcode=2018BAMS...99..337N |issn=0003-0007}}</ref> The equatorial precipitation over land is not simply a response to just the surface convergence. Rather, it is modulated by a number of regional features such as local atmospheric jets and waves, proximity to the oceans, terrain-induced convective systems, moisture recycling, and spatiotemporal variability of land cover and albedo.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gonzalez |first1=Alex O. |last2=Ganguly |first2=Indrani |last3=McGraw |first3=Marie C. |last4=Larson |first4=James G. |date=2022-02-15 |title=Rapid Dynamical Evolution of ITCZ Events over the East Pacific |url=https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/35/4/JCLI-D-21-0216.1.xml |journal=Journal of Climate |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=1197–1213 |doi=10.1175/JCLI-D-21-0216.1 |bibcode=2022JCli...35.1197G |s2cid=244551794 |issn=0894-8755|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ganguly |first1=Indrani |last2=Gonzalez |first2=Alex O. |last3=Karnauskas |first3=Kristopher B. |date=2023-10-20 |title=On the role of wind-evaporation-SST feedbacks in the sub-seasonal variability of the east Pacific ITCZ |journal=Journal of Climate |volume=-1 |issue=aop |pages=129–143 |doi=10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0849.1 |s2cid=264384015 |issn=0894-8755|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==South Pacific convergence zone==
[[File:Omega-500-july-era40-1979.png|thumb|left|Vertical air velocity at 500 hPa, July average. Ascent (negative values) is concentrated close to the [[solar equator]]; descent (positive values) is more diffuse]]

The [[South Pacific convergence zone]] (SPCZ) is a reverse-oriented, or west-northwest to east-southeast aligned, trough extending from the west Pacific warm pool southeastwards towards [[French Polynesia]]. It lies just south of the equator during the Southern Hemisphere warm season, but can be more extratropical in nature, especially east of the [[International Date Line]]. It is considered the largest and most important piece of the ITCZ, and has the least dependence upon heating from a nearby [[land mass]] during the summer than any other portion of the [[monsoon trough]].<ref>E. Linacre and B. Geerts. [http://www-das.uwyo.edu/~geerts/cwx/notes/chap12/spcz.html Movement of the South Pacific convergence zone] Retrieved on 2006-11-26.</ref>  The southern ITCZ in the eastern tropical Pacific and southern tropical Atlantic, known as the SITCZ, occurs during the Southern Hemisphere fall between [[3rd parallel south|3°]] and [[10th parallel south|10° south]] of the equator east of the [[140th meridian west]] longitude during cool or neutral [[El Niño–Southern Oscillation]] (ENSO) patterns. When ENSO reaches its warm phase, otherwise known as El Niño, the tongue of lowered [[sea surface temperature]]s due to upwelling off the South American continent disappears, which causes this convergence zone to vanish as well.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Semyon A. Grodsky |author2=James A. Carton |url=http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~carton/pdfs/grodsky&carton03.pdf|date=2003-02-15|publisher=University of Maryland, College Park|title=The Intertropical Convergence Zone in the South Atlantic and the Equatorial Cold Tongue|access-date=2009-06-05}}</ref>

==Effects on weather==
[[Image:ITCZ january-july.png|thumb|right|The ITCZ moves farther away from the equator during the Northern summer than the Southern one due to the North-heavy arrangement of the continents.]]

Variation in the location of the intertropical convergence zone 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 intertropical convergence zone can result in severe [[drought]]s or flooding in nearby areas.

In some cases, the ITCZ may become narrow, especially when it moves away from the equator; the ITCZ can then be interpreted as a [[Weather front|front]] along the leading edge of the equatorial air.<ref>Djurić, D: ''Weather Analysis''. Prentice Hall, 1994. {{ISBN|0-13-501149-3}}.</ref>  There appears to be a 15 to 25-day cycle in thunderstorm activity along the ITCZ, which is roughly half the wavelength of the [[Madden–Julian oscillation]] (MJO).<ref>Patrick A. Harr. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071129132952/http://www.onr.navy.mil/sci_tech/32/reports/docs/05/mmharr.pdf Tropical Cyclone Formation/Structure/Motion Studies.] [[Office of Naval Research]] Retrieved on 2006-11-26. </ref>

Within the ITCZ the average winds are slight, unlike the zones north and south of the equator where the trade winds feed. As trans-equator sea voyages became more common, sailors in the eighteenth century named this belt of calm ''the doldrums'' because of the calm, stagnant, or inactive winds.


[[File:The doldrums, without winds.jpg|thumb|The "doldrums" is a popular nautical term that refers to the belt around the Earth near the equator where sailing ships sometimes get stuck on windless waters.]]

==Role in tropical cyclone formation==
[[File:ITCZ jun 25 2010.jpg|thumb|Hurricanes [[Hurricane Celia (2010)|Celia]] and [[Hurricane Darby (2010)|Darby]] in the eastern Pacific and the precursor to [[Hurricane Alex (2010)|Hurricane Alex]] in the Intertropical Convergence Zone. (2010)]]

[[Tropical cyclogenesis]] depends upon low-level [[vorticity]] as one of its six requirements, and the ITCZ fills this role as it is a zone of wind change and speed, otherwise known as horizontal [[wind shear]].  As the ITCZ migrates to tropical and subtropical latitudes and even beyond during the respective hemisphere's summer season, increasing [[Coriolis effect|Coriolis force]] makes the formation of [[tropical cyclone]]s within this zone more possible. Surges of higher pressure from high latitudes can enhance tropical disturbances along its axis.<ref>C.-P. Chang, J.E. Erickson, and K.M. Lau. [https://archive.today/20130117055614/http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1175/1520-0493(1979)107%3C0812:NCSANE%3E2.0.CO;2 Northeasterly Cold Surges and Near-Equatorial Disturbances over the Winter MONEX Area during December 1974. Part I: Synoptic Aspects.] Retrieved on 2007-04-26.</ref>  In the tropical north Atlantic and the eastern portion of the tropical north Pacific oceans, [[tropical wave]]s move along the axis of the ITCZ causing an increase in thunderstorm activity, and clusters of thunderstorms can develop under weak vertical wind shear.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

==Hazards==
In the [[Age of Sail]], to find oneself becalmed in this region in a hot and muggy climate could mean death when wind was the only effective way to propel ships across the ocean. Calm periods within the doldrums could strand ships for days or weeks.<ref>[https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/doldrums.html "What are the doldrums?"] NOAA.  National Ocean Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service website, 01/07/20.</ref> Even today, leisure and competitive sailors attempt to cross the zone as quickly as possible as the erratic weather and wind patterns may cause unexpected delays.

In 2009, thunderstorms along the Intertropical Convergence Zone played a role in the loss of [[Air France Flight 447]], which crashed while flying from [[Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport]] to [[Charles de Gaulle Airport]] near [[Paris]].<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jun/01/air-france-crash-air-turbulence "Q & A Turbulences"]. ''[[The Guardian]]'' (1 June 2009).</ref> The aircraft crashed with no survivors while flying through a series of large ITCZ thunderstorms, and ice forming rapidly on airspeed sensors was the precipitating cause for a cascade of human errors which ultimately doomed the flight.  Most aircraft flying these routes are able to avoid the larger [[atmospheric convection|convective]] cells without incident.

== Effects of climate change ==
{{see also|Effects of climate change on the water cycle}}
[[File:Cariaco basin titanium 2000 300 BP 1.svg|thumb|[[Titanium]] concentrations in sediment within the [[Cariaco Basin]] have been used as a paleoclimate proxy to infer shifts in the ITCZ.<ref name="Haug et al. 2001">{{cite journal |last1=Haug |first1=Gerald H. |last2=Hughen |first2=Konrad A. |last3=Sigman |first3=Daniel M. |last4=Peterson |first4=Larry C. |last5=Röhl |first5=Ursula |author1-link=Gerald Haug |author3-link=Daniel Sigman |title=Southward Migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone Through the Holocene |journal=Science |date=17 August 2001 |volume=293 |issue=5533 |pages=1304–1308 |doi=10.1126/science.1059725|publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]]|pmid=11509727 |bibcode=2001Sci...293.1304H |s2cid=24591761 }}</ref>|alt=Line graph showing titanium concentrations over time within Cariaco Basin sediment]] 
Based on [[paleoclimate proxies]], the position and intensity of the ITCZ varied in prehistoric times along with [[climate change|changes in global climate]]. During [[Heinrich event]]s within the last 100&nbsp;ka, a southward shift of the ITCZ coincided with the intensification of the Northern Hemisphere Hadley cell coincident with weakening of the Southern Hemisphere Hadley cell. The ITCZ shifted north during the [[Holocene|mid-Holocene]] but migrated south following changes in [[insolation]] during the late-Holocene towards its current position. The ITCZ has also undergone periods of contraction and expansion within the last millennium.<ref name="AR6.1.2">{{cite book |last1=Gulev |first1=Sergey K. |last2=Thorne |first2=Peter W. |display-authors=etal |author1-link=Sergey Gulev |author2-link=Peter Thorne (climatologist) |editor1-last=Masson-Delmotte |editor1-first=Valerie |editor2-last=Zhai |editor2-first=Panmao |editor1-link=Valerie Masson-Delmotte |editor2-link=Panmao Zhai |display-editors=etal|title=Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |date=2021 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |pages=287&ndash;422 |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter02.pdf |access-date=18 January 2023 |language=en |chapter=Changing State of the Climate System}}</ref> A southward shift of the ITCZ commencing after the 1950s and continuing into the 1980s may have been associated with [[particulates#Aerosol radiative|cooling induced]] by [[aerosol]]s in the Northern Hemisphere based on results from [[climate model]]s; a northward rebound began subsequently following [[climate forcing|forced changes]] in the gradient in temperature between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. These fluctuations in ITCZ positioning had robust effects on climate; for instance, displacement of the ITCZ may have led to [[Sahel drought|drought in the Sahel]] in the 1980s.<ref name="AR6.1.3">{{cite book |last1=Eyring |first1=Veronika |last2=Gillett |first2=Nathan P. |display-authors=etal |editor1-last=Masson-Delmotte |editor1-first=Valerie |editor2-last=Zhai |editor2-first=Panmao |title=Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |date=2021 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |pages=423&ndash;551 |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter03.pdf |access-date=18 January 2023 |language=en |chapter=Human Influence on the Climate System}}</ref><ref name="AR6.1.8" />

[[Atmospheric convection]] may become stronger and more concentrated at the center of the ITCZ in response to a globally warming climate, resulting in sharpened contrasts in precipitation between the ITCZ core (where precipitation would be amplified) and its edges (where precipitation would be suppressed). [[Atmospheric reanalysis|Atmospheric reanalyses]] suggest that the ITCZ over the Pacific has narrowed and intensified since at least 1979, in agreement with data collected by satellites and in-situ precipitation measurements. The drier ITCZ fringes are also associated with an increase in [[outgoing longwave radiation]] outward of those areas, particularly over land within the mid-latitudes and the [[subtropics]]. This change in the ITCZ is also reflected by increasing salinity within the Atlantic and Pacific underlying the ITCZ fringes and decreasing salinity underlying central belt of the ITCZ. The [[IPCC Sixth Assessment Report]] indicated "medium agreement" from studies regarding the strengthening and tightening of the ITCZ due to anthropogenic climate change.<ref name="AR6.1.8" />

Less certain are the regional and global shifts in ITCZ position as a result of climate change, with paleoclimate data and model simulations highlighting contrasts stemming from asymmetries in forcing from aerosols, volcanic activity, and [[Milankovitch cycles|orbital variations]], as well as uncertainties associated with changes in [[monsoon]]s and the [[Atlantic meridional overturning circulation]]. The climate simulations run as part of [[Coupled Model Intercomparison Project|Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5]] (CMIP5) did not show a consistent global displacement of the ITCZ under anthropogenic climate change. In contrast, most of the same simulations show narrowing and intensification under the same prescribed conditions. However, simulations in [[Coupled Model Intercomparison Project|Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6]] (CMIP6) have shown greater agreement over some regional shifts of the ITCZ in response to anthropogenic climate change, including a northward displacement over the Indian Ocean and eastern Africa and a southward displacement over the eastern Pacific and Atlantic oceans.<ref name="AR6.1.8">{{cite book |last1=Douville |first1=Hervé |last2=Raghavan |first2=Krishnan |last3=Renwick |first3=James |author3-link=James Renwick (climate scientist) |display-authors=etal |editor1-last=Masson-Delmotte |editor1-first=Valerie |editor2-last=Zhai |editor2-first=Panmao |title=Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |date=2021 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |pages=1055&ndash;1210 |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter08.pdf |access-date=18 January 2023 |language=en |chapter=Human Influence on the Climate System}}</ref>

==In literature==
The doldrums are notably described in [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]]'s poem ''[[The Rime of the Ancient Mariner]]'' (1798) and also provide a metaphor for the initial state of boredom and indifference of Milo, the child hero of [[Norton Juster]]'s classic 1961 children's novel ''[[The Phantom Tollbooth]]''. It is also cited in the 1939 book ''[[Wind, Sand and Stars]]''.

==See also==
{{Portal|Earth sciences|Weather}}
* [[Asymmetry of the Intertropical Convergence Zone]]
* [[Chemical equator]]
* [[Monsoon trough]]
* [[Horse latitudes]]
* [[Polar front]]
* [[Roaring Forties]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary|doldrums}}
{{Commons category}}
* [http://people.cas.sc.edu/carbone/modules/mods4car/africa-itcz/index.html The ITCZ in Africa] via the [[University of South Carolina]]
* [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-shifting-band-of-rain "A Shifting Band of Rain"], ''[[Scientific American]]'' (March 2011)
* Duane E. Waliser and Catherine Gautier, November 1993: [http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/1520-0442%281993%29006%3C2162%3AASDCOT%3E2.0.CO%3B2 "A Satellite-derived Climatology of the ITCZ"]. ''J. Climate'', '''6''', 2162–2174.

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[[Category:Atmospheric dynamics]]
[[Category:Geography terminology]]
[[Category:Nautical terminology]]
[[Category:Tropical meteorology]]