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Extratropical Influence on the Tropical Rainfall Distribution

  • Precipitation Extremes and Climate Change (C Muller, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

This review focuses on recent progress in understanding the extratropical influence on the annual- and zonal-mean intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) position using a hierarchy of model simulations and theory.

Recent Findings

Significant progress in our theoretical understanding of the zonal-mean ITCZ position has been made utilizing simulations with a slab ocean. Interhemispheric contrasts in the atmospheric heating (e.g., via an anomalous radiative forcing in one hemisphere) lead to a compensating cross-equatorial energy transport by Hadley circulation adjustments and corresponding meridional ITCZ shifts. In particular, high-latitude radiative perturbations have a strong influence on the ITCZ position. The effectiveness of extratropical forcing for resulting in ITCZ shifts is amplified by cloud radiative feedbacks in the midlatitudes and tropical water vapor feedback associated with the ITCZ displacement. However, more recently conducted fully coupled model simulations tend to show a less pronounced extratropical influence on the ITCZ position due to additional compensating effects from ocean dynamics. The oceanic damping effect on ITCZ shifts results from distinct ocean circulation components, including the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and the wind-driven subtropical cell. Both the relative importance of different ocean circulation components and the roles of different radiative feedbacks are sensitive to forcing location, making the tropical hydroclimate response to extratropical forcing sensitive to the geographical location of the forcing, for instance, in which ocean basin it occurs. The interaction between radiative feedbacks and ocean dynamical adjustment further confounds the determination of extratropical influence on the ITCZ position, which has motivated a recently initiated model intercomparison project.

Summary

The zonal-mean energetics framework needs to be refined to explain beyond the time- and zonal-mean ITCZ position so as to incorporate transient propagation features and the spatial distribution of the tropical precipitation response.

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Acknowledgments

S.M.K. appreciates Brian Green and Sungduk Yu for their constructive comments during the review process that substantially improved the manuscript. S.M.K. is also grateful to Malte Stuecker for helpful comments on earlier versions of the paper, Yechul Shin for producing Fig. 3, Hanjun Kim for the assistance with Fig. 2, and the section editor Caroline Muller for useful discussions.

Funding

SMK acknowledges support from Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (2019R1F1A1063392).

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  1. School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, UNIST-gil 50, Ulsan, 44919, Republic of Korea

    Sarah M. Kang

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Correspondence to Sarah M. Kang.

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Kang, S.M. Extratropical Influence on the Tropical Rainfall Distribution. Curr Clim Change Rep 6, 24–36 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40641-020-00154-y

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