The direct response to tropical heating in a baroclinic atmosphere

Abstract

The global response to tropical heating is studied by performing a time integration of a 15-level primitive equation model, starting with a basic flow maintained by a constant forcing. The Gill-type response is seen in the lower troposphere in all cases. In the upper troposphere, depending on the basic conditions, the simple tropical quadrupole response of the Gill model shows considerable modification. The anticyclonic pair can be centered over the heating and can vary substantially in magnitude and vertical extent. The Rossby wave source and the upper-tropospheric divergence above the heating region is always found, but the existence and relative magnitudes of local Hadley and Walker cells as measured by upper-tropospheric convergence are strong functions of the flow. -from Authors