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Time scales of response to antisymmetric surface fluxes in an aquaplanet GCM
Author(s) -
Woelfle Matthew D.,
Bretherton Christopher S.,
Frierson Dargan M. W.
Publication year - 2015
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 - 10.1002/2015gl063372
Subject(s) - intertropical convergence zone , climatology , extratropical cyclone , environmental science , equator , middle latitudes , atmospheric sciences , gcm transcription factors , geology , climate change , meteorology , physics , latitude , general circulation model , oceanography , precipitation , geodesy
The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) shifts in response to hemispheric asymmetries in extratropical energy forcings. This study investigates the response time scale of this shift in an aquaplanet global climate model coupled to a slab ocean. A steady antisymmetric perturbation is abruptly added to the slab‐ocean heat flux convergence in midlatitudes. The time scale of the ITCZ shift scales linearly with the heat capacity of the combined ocean‐atmosphere system, and the shift is amplified by subtropical clear‐sky radiation and cloud radiative feedbacks.