Seasonal variation of the ITCZ and its characteristics over central Africa

Abstract

We investigated the seasonal march of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) shown by the 22 coupled general circulation models of the 20th Century Climate in Coupled Models experiment in seven regions (Africa, Indian Ocean, western Pacific, central Pacific, eastern Pacific, South America, and Atlantic Ocean). Inter-model differences in the seasonal march of the ITCZ over Africa (10–40°E) were significantly smaller than those over other regions. This finding indicates that the seasonal march of the ITCZ over Africa is insensitive to differences in model physics and resolution and suggests that the seasonal march of the African ITCZ is controlled by robust and simple mechanisms. Motivated by this result, we tried to understand the process of the seasonal march of the ITCZ over central Africa (15–30°E) based on an analysis of ERA-40 data. The analysis results revealed the following features of the ITCZ in this region: (1) The ITCZ itself produces large convective available potential energy that generates deep convection. (2) The abundant water vapor within the ITCZ is maintained by horizontal moisture flux. (3) Outside but near the ITCZ, shallow convection exists and may act to pre-moisten deep convection in spring and autumn. (4) The seasonal change of the ITCZ is preceded by that of the vertical moist instability in the lower free atmosphere caused by the seasonal change in insolation.