Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)
The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is the region that circles the Earth, near the equator, where the trade winds of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres come together. Also known by sailors as doldrums. It was originally identified from the 1920s to the 1940s as the Intertropical Front (ITF), but after the recognition in the 1940s and 1950s of the significance of wind field convergence in tropical weather production, the term "ITCZ" was then applied. When it lies near the equator, it is called the near-equilatorial through. The ITCZ appears as a band of clouds, usually thunderstorms, that circle the globe near the equator. In the Northern Hemisphere, the trade winds move in a southwestern direction from the northeast, while in the Southern Hemisphere, they move northwestward from the southeast.
South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ)
The South Pacific Convergenze Zone (SPCZ) is a reverse-oriented, or west-northwest to east-southeast aligned, trough extending from the west Pacific warm pool southeastwards towards French Polynesia. It lies just south of the Equator during theSouthern Hemisphere warm season, but can be more extratropical in nature, especially east of the International Date Line. It is considered the largest and most important piece of the ITCZ, and has the least dependence upon heating from a nearby land mass during the summer than any other portion of the monsoon trough.
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