PRESSURE BELTS

INTRODUCTION
Since the time of Guericke, it has been known that the air has weight. Under ordinary conditions,
a cubic foot of air weighs about an ounce and a quarter (1.25 ounces). As the air has weight, it
must follow that, the atmosphere must press upon the surface of the earth, and the pressure at any
point will depend upon the amount of air above it. It will be less on the top of a mountain than
that at the foot. But even at the sea level the pressure varies from day to day.
Small but distinct pressure differences remain from place to place. If 1,013 mb (29.92 in. or 76
cm) is taken as standard sea level pressure, readings higher than this will frequently be observed
in middle latitudes, occasionally upto 1040 mb (30.7 in.) or higher. These pressures are
designated as “High Pressures”; ranging down to 982 mb (29.0 in.) or below are “Low
Pressures”.

UNITS OF PRESSURE: 1.013 kg/cm2 = 1.013 bar = 1,013 mb = 760 mm of Hg = 76 cm of Hg

= 29.92 in.

1. EQUATORIAL LOW PRESSURE TROUGH

Within a few degrees of equator is a belt of pressure, some what lower than the normal pressure
1013 mb, between 1011 mb and 1008 mb, which is known as the Equatorial Trough or Low
Pressure Belt. This is an area of high temperature and high humidity, commonly known as the
Doldrums, where the air near sea level is stagnant or sluggish. The low pressure is due to
heating; as the pressure of a volume of air decreases when its temperature increases.
It lies entirely north of the equator during July, because this is the summer hemisphere (Northern
Hemisphere). The trough is by no means uniform in width, depth or position. It is deepest and
most pronounced when it lies farthest from the equator, such as over an area extending from the
Persian Gulf eastward to north-western India, and also over northern Mexico and the south-
western United States. It is least distinct over the western and central pacific.
Such continental, thermal lows are relatively shallow and have influence only on surface wind
patterns.

2. SUB-TROPICAL HIGH PRESSURE BELTS

At about latitude 30 degrees North and South occur the sub-tropical high pressure belts,
sometimes known as the “Horse Latitudes”, zones of calm and descending air currents. In the
Southern Hemisphere, this belt is clearly defined but contains centers of high pressure termed as
“pressure cells”.
In the Northern Hemisphere in summer, the high pressure belt is dominated by two oceanic cells,
one over the eastern Pacific and the other over the eastern north Atlantic. Average pressure
exceeds 1026 mb in the centers of the cells.
The sub-tropical highs are largely developed by dynamic, rather than thermal causes. Subsidizing
air from high levels is largely responsible for their great pressures. Variations in their strength
and form are among the most important features of the global energy balance, since the air that
diverges from them comprises a large part of the entire air circulation system on the surface.
The summer hemisphere (northern hemisphere) shows only the large oceanic, high pressure
centers. The winter hemisphere has a greater number of anti-cyclonic highs and the most active
day by day pressure changes along the general sub-tropical pressure zones.

3. SUB-ANTARCTIC LOW PRESSURE BELTS

Pole-wards of the sub-tropical high pressure belts are the broad belts of low pressure, extending
roughly from the middle latitude zone (35o to 55o north and south) to the Arctic zone (60o to
75o north and south) but centered and intensified in the sub-Arctic zone (55o to 60o north and
south) at about 60th parallel to latitude (horizontal). In the southern hemisphere, over the
continuous expense of southern ocean, the sub-Antarctic low pressure belt is specially defined
with average pressure as low as 984 mb.
It is one of the deepest and most persistent low pressure troughs in the world bordering the
Antarctic continent. It is present, however, at all seasons shifting slightly southwards in January.
This low pressure trough marks the zone of energy transfer between warm and cold air. It is a
strong frontal zone, and the dynamics of air interchange, implemented by the upward
displacement of warmer air, the high condensation, great angular momentum, rotational
deflection, and other factors produce an almost continuous succession of deep cyclones that
move around the world through this zone. Anticyclones, or high pressures accompanied by
descending diverging air, sometimes, occupy positions within the trough and at rare intervals
may persist for several days.

4. SUB-POLAR LOW PRESSURE BELTS

Nearer the poles occur the sub-polar low pressure belts. One reason for this pressure distribution
is that the rotation of the earth causes a polar whirl and therefore a tendency toward low pressure
at the poles. But the intense cold around the poles causes the thermal effect to overcome the
dynamic one, with the result that the low pressure belts tend to be around just outside the polar
circles.
Since the frontal activity between cold and warm air in these latitudes is weak during the summer
season, strong sub-polar lows do not develop.
The weak low-pressure zone bordering southern Greenland and extending across the north
Atlantic to Norway is related to shallow summer cyclonic depressions that pass eastward through
the region.

5. POLAR HIGHS
The polar zones have permanent centers of high pressure known as polar highs. Both high and
low pressure centers are present, which change in intensity and shape seasonally, with the low
(located near the continental margin) dominant during most of the year, but less strongly
developed during the winter months. A high pressure ridge tends to occupy the highest portion of
the continent but is extremely shallow and not well developed.