Climatology

Air Pressure

Submitted to: Ma’am Shumaila

The trade winds are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics, within the lower
portion of the Earth's atmosphere, in the lower section of the troposphere near the Earth's equator. These
winds blow in single general direction from northeast in Northern hemisphere, and from southeast in
Southern hemisphere and getting stronger during winter when Arctic oscillation is in its warm phase.
These winds are also known as northeast trade winds in northern hemisphere and southeast trade winds in
southern hemisphere.

The term trade winds was derive from the early century and late middle English word 'trade' meaning
"path" or "track”.

The explorer and adventurer Christopher Columbus was the first person to discover the trade winds.

The trade winds (named centuries ago by sailors on trade ships) are quite reliably blowing from the east at
an angle to the equator such that they bring air from higher latitudes to the equatorial "zone of
convergence". Thus, the captains sought out the trades to go west (and they sailed fast). In the high
pressure regions at the eastern edge of the ocean basins where the trade winds originate, the climate is
typically hot, sunny, and dry (e.g. Baja California); as the winds move westward across the oceans, they
gain moisture, which is eventually dumped at the western side of the ocean basins. 

The region of Earth receiving the Sun's direct rays is the equator. Here, air is heated and rises, leaving low
pressure areas behind. Moving to about thirty degrees north and south of the equator, the warm air from
the equator begins to cool and sink. Between thirty degrees latitude and the equator, most of the cooling
sinking air moves back to the equator. The rest of the air flows toward the poles. The air movements
toward the equator are called trade winds- warm, steady breezes that blow almost continuously. The
Coriolis Effect makes the trade winds appear to be curving to the west, whether they are traveling to the
equator from the south or north and this theory was first suggested by famous astronomer Edmond
Halley, in 1686. 

Then there was another English meteorologist George Hadley (1685-1768) who realized that wind
particles moving toward the equator would come from a region of lower eastward velocity and enter a
region of higher eastward velocity as they moved toward the equator. Thus, the wind would have a
westward motion, as indeed observed. 

The compensating air flow for the trade wind is a kind of anti-trade wind in the uppermost troposphere,
located above the trades, where the flow of air is going east and away from the convergence. The
compensating flow for the rise of the air in the convergence is the downward motion of air in the desert
zone, centered between 20 and 30° latitude. This falling air heats up as the pressure increases and is
therefore greatly under-saturated with water vapor. This produces clear skies, evaporation at the sea
surface (or soil) and general aridity. (To verify this check the positions of the major deserts on a map.)
Surface air from subtropical regions returns towards the equator (as the Trade Winds) to replace the rising
air, so completing the cycle of air circulation within the Hadley cell.

the trade winds act as the steering flow for tropical storms that form over the Atlantic, Pacific, and
southern Indian and make landfall in North America, Southeast Asia, and Madagascar and eastern Africa,
respectively. Trade winds also transport African dust westward across the Atlantic Ocean into
the Caribbean Sea, as well as portions of southeastern North America. Shallow cumulus clouds are seen
within trade wind regimes, and are capped from becoming taller by a trade wind inversion, which is
caused by descending air aloft from within the subtropical ridge. The weaker the trade winds become, the
more rainfall can be expected in the neighboring landmasses.

Typical trade wind characteristics

The strength of the trade winds - like all the winds in the world - is predominantly determined by pressure
gradient. Because the pressure of the equatorial trough, or ITCZ, is relatively stable at around 1008-1012
hPa, the strength of the trade winds is mostly determined by the strength and location of the subtropical
high pressure. The stronger the high pressure is and the closer it is to the equator the stronger the pressure
gradient and the trade winds are.

Figure 1 shows a subtropical high pressure of 1037 mb centered at 37°N, 147°W. That creates a large area
of easterly trades of 15-30 knots between 30°N and ITCZ.
Figure 1. North Pacific surface pressure analysis shows a high pressure at 37°N, 147°W. The trade wind
belt extends from about 30°N to ITCZ (red line between 0 and 10°N).

Trades are typically the most common and steady during the summer months. For example in Hawaii,
that is in the middle of the North Pacific trade wind belt, the trades occur about 90% of the time during
the summer months and about 50% of the time in the winter leading to total of 70% time of the year.
During the winter, the mid-latitude low pressures are typically stronger and they take more southerly
(northerly) route in the northern (southern) hemisphere breaking the subtropical high pressure pattern.
The cold fronts from these low pressures can extend as far down as 15-20 degrees latitude. During the
summer, the subtropical high pressure is quite steady and well-established, so the trade wind speed is also
steady. Typical speeds range between 12 and 18 knots.

During the winter, the wind speed varies more. For example, if a mid-latitude storm has "broken" the
high pressure, winds can be quite light as the high pressure re-builds. On the other hand, in certain
environmental conditions the high pressure can build up and become very strong. Therefore the wind
speed varies more during the winter - typically between 5 and 25 knots. However, the mean wind speed
for both summer and winter stays relatively similar with annual average speed of about 14 knots.
Persistent trade winds generate seas that can be sometimes a little bit choppy. The average wave height is
typically about 2 meters with a peak period of 9 seconds.

It should be noted that the direction of the trades can vary quite a lot depending on the location and shape
of the subtropical high pressure. In Figure 1, the winds are northerly near the California coast whereas
over Hawaii the trades have typical east or northeast direction. Approaching multitude low pressure
systems and their cold fronts can reshape the high significantly, often making it more elongated in the
north-south rather than east-west direction.
Figure 2. Monthly mean sea-level pressure for January (upper) and July (lower).

Figure 2 shows the mean sea-level pressure for January and July. Some noticeable features can be seen
for each ocean basin: The dominating weather feature over the North Atlantic Ocean is the North
Atlantic Anticyclone, or the Azores High (sometimes also known as Bermuda high). The southern flank
of this large high pressure system forms the North Atlantic trade wind belt that transports sailors from the
Canary Islands to Caribbean. On the north side of the high, westward moving lows dominate the weather
(especially during the winter) and form a belt of westerlies in the midlatitudes. During the winter months,
the Azores High shifts slightly southward. Also the north Atlantic low pressure systems typically take
more southerly route and may reshape or even completely break down the Azores high, when the
westerlies can extend down to 20°N or even 15°N. Fortunately these lows typically move quite fast and
the high pressure builds up again in a few days.

Over the North Pacific, the high pressure shifts southeast, closer to the California coast, during the winter
from its summer position north of Hawaii. The Aleutian low dominates the high latitudes. Similar to
North Atlantic, the low pressures can break the high pressure and their cold fronts can extend far south to
the trade wind belt.

The seasonal changes in the southern hemisphere are less dramatic than in the northern hemisphere. Over
the South Atlantic, South Pacific, and South Indian Ocean the high pressures shift slightly to the north
during the winter from their summer positions.

The winds over the North Indian Ocean are dominated by the monsoon. During the winter, there is a
large high pressure over the asian continent and the large-scale flow over the area is from the northeast.
During the summer monsoon, a large low pressure forms over the Asian continent and the wind direction
is reversed with the dominant wind direction being from the southwest.

Figure 2. Trade wind inversion. Near the subtropical high pressure center (right) the trade wind inversion
is strong and the clouds are shallow. Closer to the equator (left) the inversion weakens and clouds can
grow tall.

Typical weather characteristics

Typical weather in the trade wind belt is partly sunny with some cumulus or stratocumulus clouds and a
chance of showers. The clouds in the trade wind region do not usually grow very tall because of a layer of
warmer air called trade wind inversion. Descending air in the subtropical high pressure together with
upward surface fluxes create a layer of warm air at about 500-3000 m altitude. The air is stable at the
inversion layer, so the clouds cannot grow taller than the inversion bottom. For example, if one sails from
Canary Islands to Caribbean or from California to Hawaii, the trade wind inversion gets higher and
weaker along the way. The bottom of the inversion rises from about 500-1000 m altitude to about 1500-
3000 m along those routes. In practice that means taller clouds and more showers as one gets closer to the
equator.

Although the weather is usually fair in the trade wind region, sometimes a synoptic-scale disturbance can
weaken or break the inversion and thunderstorms can develop. These disturbances include upper-
tropospheric lows, cold fronts, subtropical lows (Kona lows), and tropical cyclones. The last three can be
seen and forecast from the surface charts. The upper-tropospheric lows, however, can be only seen from
upper level charts (e.g. 500 mb).