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Further observational evidence of Hadley cell widening in the Southern Hemisphere
Author(s) -
Choi Jung,
Son SeokWoo,
Lu Jian,
Min SeungKi
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2014gl059426
Subject(s) - southern hemisphere , climatology , hadley cell , northern hemisphere , geology , subtropics , ridge , subtropical ridge , oceanography , climate change , general circulation model , geography , meteorology , precipitation , paleontology , fishery , biology
Various observational and modeling studies have shown that the Hadley cell (HC) has widened during the past few decades. Here we present further observational evidence of the widening of the HC in the Southern Hemisphere by tracking the location of the subtropical ridge. A robust and significant poleward shift of the southern edge of the HC has been observed during the austral summer over the past three decades with a shift of 0.22° per decade between 1980 and 2012, primarily from the South Atlantic Ocean eastward to Australia. In other seasons, significant changes in the southern edge of the HC have not been observed, with a discernable regional trend having only occurred in limited regions. The comparison of these results with those derived from reanalysis data and possible causes for the summer HC expansion in the Southern Hemisphere are briefly discussed.