Significance of the South Pacific Convergence Zone in energy conversions of the Southern Hemisphere during FGGE, 10-27 January 1979
An attempt is made to relate the circulation features of the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) to those of the Southern Hemisphere (SH) for the whole area and for three subsections. It is established that during the period of Jan. 10-24, 1979, when the SPCZ was convectively active, it played a significant role in the baroclinic energy conversion (CE) within the tropical SH. When the SPCZ dissipated the CE did likewise. A zonal wavenumber analysis shows that wavenumber four was dominant in the CE process in the SH topics when the SPCZ was active, but that it did not dominate when the SPCZ dissipated. It is shown that the most intense convective activity in the tropics occurred in the SPCZ and that its location corresponded favorably to maximum values of CE greater than zero.