AS.270.103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Oceanic Basin, Intertropical Convergence Zone, Thermohaline Circulation
23 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Incoming radiation from the sun is largest (more direct) at the equator and smallest at high latitudes at the poles because of the tilt of the earth. Radiation is emitted back to space outgoing radiation peaks at the equator and is lowest at high latitudes because there are warmer temperatures (more heat) at the equator than at high latitudes. At low latitudes, there is more radiation incoming than outgoing (net heating), while at high latitudes there is more radiation outgoing than incoming (net cooling) Idealized atmosphere model 1: single cell (earth does not rotate: air expands when it is heated (less dense) and thus rises, moving towards the poles (single thermal convection cell in each hemisphere) Idealized atmosphere model 2: three cells: when planet rotates, there are three cells in each hemisphere, alternating belts of pressure with low at equator (air rises) and high at poles/subtropics (air sinks), and winds have an east-west component.
