Xie, S., 1994: Oceanic response to the wind forcing associated with the Intertropical Convergence Zone in the northern hemisphere. Journal of Geophysical Research, 99(C10), 20,393-20,402.

Abstract: A zonally oriented band of warm surface water, centered 10°N and collocated with the atmospheric Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), is observed in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans. The annual mean sea surface temperature (SST) in the southern hemisphere, on the other hand, is much lower than that in the warm water band. Such an equatorially asymmetric distribution of SST is considered to be responsible for the persistent stay of the ITCZ in the northern hemisphere. A three-dimensional ocean general circulation model is used to investigate the maintenance of this high SST band. The model is driven by the wind forcing associated with an idealized zonally symmetric ITCZ in the northern hemisphere. Focusing on the effects of the wind forcing, we assume equatorial symmetry in other atmospheric fields. In such a model the equatorially asymmetric distribution of the wind speed, which affects the ocean through evaporation, is found to be the primary cause of the asymmetric SST distribution. The meridional advection of temperature by the ocean currents affects the latitude of the warm water band. The effects of the eastward advection of the warm western Pacific water by the North Equatorial Countercurrent and of the coastal upwelling along the South American coast are also examined.