A SATELLITE-DERIVED CLIMATOLOGY OF THE ITCZ

This paper presents fundamental climatological characteristics of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in a simple concise manner using the highly reflective cloud (HRC) dataset. This satellite-derived dat aset uses both visible and infrared observations to measure the freque ncy of occurrence of large-scale convective systems over the global tr opics at a 1-degrees spatial resolution. These dataset characteristics make the HRC particularly well suited for climatological analysis of the ITCZ because the dataset is based on estimates of organized deep c onvective cloud systems rather than observations of clouds as a whole, and it provides the spatial resolution needed to identify these large -scale convective structures. Furthermore, the dataset covers a time p eriod extending nearly two decades, which provides for a fairly robust climatology and the opportunity to examine seasonal and inter-annual variability of both the convection and the latitude of the ITCZ.