Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Variability of the extent of the Hadley circulation in the southern hemisphere: a regional perspective

  • Published:
Climate Dynamics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In order to understand the regional impacts of variations in the extent of the Hadley circulation in the Southern Hemisphere, regional Hadley circulations are defined in three sectors centered on the main tropical heat sources over Africa, Asia-Pacific (Maritime Continent) and the Americas. These regional circulations are defined by computing a streamfunction from the divergent component of the meridional wind. A major finding from this study is that year-to-year variability in the extent of the hemispheric Hadley circulation in the Southern Hemisphere is primarily governed by variations of the extent of the Hadley circulation in the Asia-Pacific sector, especially during austral spring and summer when there is little co-variability with the African sector, and the American sector exhibits an out of phase behavior. An expanded Hadley circulation in the Southern Hemisphere (both hemispherically and in the Asia-Pacific sector) is associated with La Niña conditions and a poleward expansion of the tropical wet zone in the Asia-Pacific sector. While La Niña also promotes expansion in the American and African sectors during austral winter, these tropical conditions tend to promote contraction in the two sectors during austral summer as a result of compensating convergence over the Americas and Africa sectors: a process driven by variations in the Walker circulation and Rossby wave trains emanating from the tropical Indian Ocean.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ashok K, Behera SK, Rao SA, Weng H, Yamagata T (2007) El Niño Modoki and its possible teleconnection. J Geophys Res 112:C11007. doi:10.1029/2006JC003798

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birner T, Davis SM, Seidel DJ (2014) The changing width of Earth’s tropical belt. Phys Today 12:38–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butle AH, Thompson DW, Birner T (2011) Isentropic slopes, downgradient eddy fluxes, and the extratropical atmospheric circulation response to tropical tropospheric heating. J Atmos Sci 68(10):2292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cai W, van Rensch P, Cowan T, Hendon HH (2011) An asymmetry in the IOD and ENSO teleconnection pathway and its impact on Australian climate. J Clim 25:6318–6329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen G, Held IM (2007) Phase speed spectra and the recent poleward shift of Southern Hemisphere surface westerlies. Geophys Res Lett 34:L21805. doi:10.1029/2007GL031200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen S, Wei K, Chen W, Song L (2014) Regional changes in the annual mean Hadley circulation in recent decades. J Geophys Res 119. doi:10.1002/2014JD021540

  • Davis SM, Rosenlof KH (2012) A multi-diagnostic intercomparison of tropical width time series using reanalyses and satellite observations. J Clim 25:1061–1078. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00127.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dee DP, Uppala SM, Simmons AJ, Berrisford P, Poli P, Kobayashi S, Andrae U, Balmaseda MA, Balsamo G, Bauer P et al (2011) The ERA-Interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system. Q J R Meteorol Soc 137:553–597. doi:10.1002/qj.828

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fyfe JC, Boer GJ, Flato GM (1999) The arctic and antartic oscillations and their projected changes under global warming. Geophys Res Lett 26:1601–1604. doi:10.1029/1999GL900317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill AE (1980) Some simple solutions for heat induced tropical circulation. Quart J Roy Meteor Soc 106:447–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillett NP, Fyfe JC (2013) Annular mode changes in the CMIP5 simulations. Geophys Res Lett 40:1189–1193. doi:10.1002/grl.50249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendon HH, Thompson DWJ, Wheeler MC (2007) Australian rainfall and temperature variations associated with the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode. J Clim 20:2452–2467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendon HH, Lim E-P, Nguyen H (2014) Seasonal variations of subtropical precipitation associated with the southern annular mode. J Clim 27:3446–3460. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00550.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu Y, Zhou C, Liu J (2011) Observational evidence for the poleward expansion of the Hadley circulation. Adv Atmos Sci 28:33–44. doi:10.1007/s00376-010-0032-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huffman GJ, Adler RF, Bolvin DT, Gu G (2009) Improving the global precipitation record: GPCP version 2.1. Geophys Res Lett 36:L17808. doi:10.1029/2009GL040000

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johanson CM, Fu Q (2009) Hadley cell widening: model simulations versus observations. J Clim 22:2713–2725. doi:10.1175/2008JCLI2620.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang SM, Polvani LM (2011) The interannual relationship between the latitude of the eddy-driven jet and the edge of the hadley cell. J Clim 24:563–568. doi:10.1175/2010JCLI4077.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang SM, Polvani LM, Fyfe JC, Son S-W, Sigmond M, Correa GJP (2013) Modeling evidence that ozone depletion has impacted extreme precipitation in the austral summer. Geophys Res Lett 40:4054–4059, doi:10.1002/grl.50769

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kao H-Y, Yu J-Y (2009) Contrasting eastern-Pacific and central-Pacific types of ENSO. J Clim 22:615–632. doi:10.1175/2008JCLI2309.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • L’Heureux ML, Thompson DWJ (2006) Observed relationships between the El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the extratropical zonal-mean circulation. J Clim 19:276–287. doi:10.1175/JCLI3617.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim E-P, Hendon HH (2015) Understanding and predicting the strong Southern Annular Mode and its impact on the record wet east Australian spring 2010. Clim Dyn 44:2807–2824

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim E-P, Simmonds I (2009) Effect of tropospheric temperature change on the zonal mean circulation and SH winter extratropical cyclones. Clim Dyn 33:19–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim E-P, Hendon HH, Rashid HA (2013) Seasonal predictability of the Southern Annular Mode due to its association with ENSO. J Clim 26:8037–8054

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim E-P, Hendon HH, Arblaster JM, Delage F, Nguyen H, Min S-K, Wheeler MC (2016) The impact of the Southern Annular Mode on future changes in Southern Hemisphere rainfall. Geophys Res Lett 43:7160–7167, doi:10.1002/2016GL069453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu J, Chen G, Frierson DMW (2008) Response of the zonal mean atmospheric circulation to El Nino versus global warming. J Clim 21:5836–5851

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas C, Nguyen H 2015: Regional characteristics of tropical expansion and the role of climate variability. J Geophys Res Atmos 120. doi:10.1002/2015JD023130

  • Lucas C, Nguyen H, Timbal B (2012) An observational analysis of Southern Hemisphere tropical expansion. J Geophys Res 117:D17112. doi:10.1029/2011jd017033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas C, Timbal B, Nguyen H (2013) The expanding tropics: a critical assessment of the observational and modelling studies. WIREs Clim Change doi:10.1002/wcc.251

    Google Scholar 

  • Meehl GA, Santer BD, Xie S-P (2016) Contribution of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation to twentieth-century global surface temperature trends. Nat Clim Change 6:1005–1008. doi:10.1038/nclimate3107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller RL, Schmidt GA, Shindell DT (2006) Forced annular variations in the 20th century Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report models. J Geophys Res 111:D18101. doi:10.1029/2005JD006323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore GWK, Alverson K, Holdsworth G (2004) Mount logan ice core evidence for changes in the hadley and walker circulations following the end of the little ice age. Chapter 13, The hadley circulation: present, past and future, ed. Diaz and Bradley, Kluwer Academic Publisher, pp. 371–395

  • Nguyen H, Evans A, Lucas C, Smith I, Timbal B (2013) The hadley circulation in reanalyses: climatology, variability and expansion. J Clim 26:3357–3376. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen H, Lucas C, Evans A, Timbal B, Hanson L (2015) Expansion of the Southern Hemisphere Hadley Cell in response to greenhouse gas forcing. J Clim 28:8067–8077. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0139.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oort AH, Yienger JJ (1996) Observed interannual variability in the Hadley circulation and its connection to ENSO. J Climate 9:2751–2767

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Purich A, Cowan T, Min S-K, Cai W (2013) Autumn precipitation trends over Southern Hemisphere midlatitudes as simulated by CMIP5 models. J Clim 26(21):8341–8356. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00007.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quan X, Hoerling M, Perlwitz J, Diaz H, Xu T (2014) How fast Are the tropics expanding? J Clim 27:1999–2013. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00287.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rayner NA, Parker DE, Horton EB, Folland CK, Alexander LV, Rowell DP, Kent EC, Kaplan A (2003) Global analyses of sea surface temperature, sea ice, and night marine air temperature since the late nineteenth century. J Geophys Res 108(D14):4407. doi:10.1029/2002JD002670

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saji NH, Goswami BN, Vinayachandran PN, Yamagata T (1999) A dipole mode in the tropical Indian Ocean. Nature 401:360–363

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwendike J, Govekar P, Reeder MJ, Wardle R, Berry GJ, Jakob C (2014) Local partitioning of the overturning circulation in the tropics and the connection to the Hadley and Walker circulations. J Geophys Res Atmos 119(3):1322–1339. doi:10.1002/2013JD020742

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwendike J, Berry GJ, Reeder MJ, Jakob C, Govekar P, Wardle R (2015) Trends in the local Hadley and local Walker circulations. J Geophys Res Atmos 120:7599–7618. doi:10.1002/2014JD022652

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seager R, Harnik N, Kushnir Y, Robinson W, Miller J (2003) Mechanisms of hemispherically symmetric climate variability. J Clim 16:2960–2978. doi:10.1175/1520-0442(2003)016<2960:MOHSCV>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seidel DJ, Fu Q, Randel WJ, Reichler TJ (2008) Widening of the tropical belt in a changing climate. Nat Geosci 1:21–24. doi:10.1038/ngeo.2007.38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Son S-W, Polvani LM, Waugh DW, Akiyoshi H, Garcia RR, Kinnison D, Pawson S, Rozanov E, Shepherd TG, Shibata K (2008) The impact of stratospheric ozone recovery on the Southern Hemisphere westerly jet. Science 320:1486–1489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Staten PW, Rutz JJ, Reichler T, Lu J (2011) Breaking down the tropospheric circulation response by forcing. Clim Dyn 39:2361–2375. doi:10.1007/s00382-011-1267-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taschetto AS, England MH (2009) El Niño Modoki impacts on Australian rainfall. J Clim 22:3167–3174. doi:10.1175/2008JCLI2589.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson DWJ, Wallace JM (2000) Annular modes in the extratropical circulation. Part I: month-to-month variability. J Clim 13:1000–1016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yin JH (2005) A consistent poleward shift of the storm tracks in simulations of 21st century climate. Geophys Res Lett 32:L18701. doi:10.1029/2005GL023684

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao M, Hendon HH (2009) Representation and prediction of the Indian Ocean dipole in the POAMA seasonal forecast model. QJR Meteorol Soc 135:337–352. doi:10.1002/qj.370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng F, Li J, Clark RT, Nnamchi HC (2014) Simulation and projection of the Southern Hemisphere annular mode in CMIP5 models. J Clim 26:9860–9879

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This project is supported by the Victorian Climate Initiative (VicCI). E. Maloney was supported by the Climate and Large-Scale Dynamics Program of the National Science Foundation under Grant AGS-1441916, and G. Boschat by the Australian Research Council grant DP140102855. We warmly thank Josephine Brown and Kevin Tory for their insightful comments on the manuscript prior to submission.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne, Australia

    H. Nguyen, H. H. Hendon, E. -P. Lim & B. Timbal

  2. Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    E. Maloney

  3. ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science and School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    G. Boschat

Authors
  1. H. Nguyen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. H. H. Hendon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. E. -P. Lim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. G. Boschat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. E. Maloney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. B. Timbal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to H. Nguyen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nguyen, H., Hendon, H.H., Lim, E.P. et al. Variability of the extent of the Hadley circulation in the southern hemisphere: a regional perspective. Clim Dyn 50, 129–142 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-017-3592-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-017-3592-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation