USAMA RAFI

2017-CIV-188

HYDROLYSIS ASSIGNMENT

Topic #1

GENERAL CIRCULATION OF WIND SYSTEM

The high temperatures at the equator make the air there less dense. It thus tends to rise before being
transported poleward at high altitudes in the troposphere. This motion is compensated for at the surface
by an equatorward displacement of the air. On a motionless Earth, this big convection cell would reach
the poles, inducing direct exchanges between the warmest and coldest places on Earth. However, because
of the Earth's rotation, such an atmospheric structure would be unstable. Consequently, the two cells driven
by the ascendance at the Equator, called the Hadley cells, close with a downward branch at a
latitude of about 30o (Fig. 1.4). The northern boundary of these cells is marked by strong westerly winds in the
upper troposphere called the tropospheric jets. At the surface, the Earth's rotation is responsible for a
deflection toward the right in the northern hemisphere and toward the left in the southern hemisphere (due
to the Coriolis force) of the flow coming from the mid-latitudes to the Equator. This gives rise to the
easterly trade winds characteristics of the tropical regions

Figure 1: Schematic representation of the annual mean general atmospheric circulation. H (L) represents
high (low) pressure systems.

The extratropical circulation is dominated at the surface by westerly winds whose zonal symmetry is
perturbed by large wave-like patterns and the continuous succession of disturbances that governs the day-
to-day variations in the weather in these regions. The dominant feature of the meridional circulation at
those latitudes is the Ferrell cell (Fig), which is weaker than the Hadley cell. As it is characterized by rising

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motion in its poleward branch and downward motion in the equator branch, it is termed an indirect cell by
contrast with the Hadley cell, which is termed a direct cell.

Outside a narrow equatorial band and above the surface boundary layer, the large-scale atmospheric
circulation is close to geostrophic equilibrium. The surface pressure and winds are thus closely related.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the winds rotate clockwise around a high pressure and counterclockwise around
a low pressure, while the reverse is true in the Southern Hemisphere. Consequently, the mid-latitude westerlies
are associated with high pressure in the subtropics and low pressure at around 50-60o. Rather than a
continuous structure, this subtropical high pressure belt is characterized by distinct high pressure centers,
often referred to as the name of a region close to their maximum (e.g., Azores high, St Helena high). In the
Northern Hemisphere, the low pressures at around 50-60oN manifest themselves on climatological maps
as cyclonic centers called the Icelandic low and the Aleutian low. In the Southern Ocean, because of the
absence of large land masses in the corresponding band of latitude, the pressure is more zonally
homogenous, with a minimum in surface pressure around 60 o S.

In the real atmosphere, the convergence of surface winds and the resulting ascendance does not occur
exactly at the equator but in a band called the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Because of
the present geometry of the continents, it is located around 5 o N, with some seasonal shifts. The presence of
land surfaces also has a critical role in monsoon circulation. In summer, the continents warm faster than
the oceans because of their lower thermal inertia This induces a warming of the air close to the surface and
a decrease in surface pressure there. This pressure difference between land and sea induces a transport of
moist air from the sea to the land. In winter, the situation reverses, with high pressure over the cold continent
and a flow generally from land to sea. Such a monsoonal circulation, with seasonal reversals of the wind
direction, is present in many tropical areas of Africa, Asia and Australia. Nevertheless, the most famous
monsoon is probably the South Asian one that strongly affects the Indian sub-continent.

TOPIC 2
MONSOON SYSTEM IN PAKISTAN

Introduction:
Monsoon particularly the summer Monsoon over south and south East Asia is one of the Spectacular
phenomena of nature. It has some fascinating facts attached with it. The term monsoon means seasonal
reversal of winds, which originated from the Arabic word, mausem or mawsim meaning season.

Following are the four possible definitions of the monsoon

1. The prevailing wind direction changes by at least 1200 between January & July.

2. The average frequency of prevailing wind in January & July should exceed by 40%.

3. The mean resultant winds in at least one of the months should exceed 3m/sec.

4. Fewer than one cyclone anticyclone alteration should occur every two years in either month in 5° Latitude-
longitude grids. The countries lying between 30N°, 25S°, 30E°, 170E° satisfy these four criteria.

Main driving mechanisms of the monsoon are

1. The differential heating of the land and Sea.

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 2. Swirl introduced to the winds by the rotation of the earth.

From the reversal of winds’ hypothesis, we can say that generally there are two monsoon circulations
a) Summer monsoon b) Winter monsoon

IN PAKISTAN:

In Pakistan we observe that Sun starts scorching down the southern areas of Pakistan by the end
of March or early April. April and May are the months during which soaring heat absorbed by the southern
Pakistan (Sindh and south Baluchistan) raises the day temperatures as high as up to plus 40s The peculiar
geographical feature of Asian continental landmass gives rise to extreme thermal contrast between land in
the north & Ocean in the south in both summer and winter, which is very crucial factor in most pronounced
circulation in this part of the globe.

Monsoon is undoubtedly the principal contributor (about 65% to 70%) of the total annual rainfall.
Therefore people of Pakistan, by and large, take a sigh of relief when they see enough amount of
precipitation pouring down from the skies and they get worried when come across the deficient rainfall.
Monsoon sets on in Pakistan with the beginning of July and towards the end of September this prevails. In
addition to the monsoon factors mentioned above with regard to Pakistan more frequent observations are
that

1. The coastal cities of Pakistan like Karachi, Ormara, Pasni and Thatta etc remain under the grip of
thick layer of low clouds under the influence of strong southwesterly flow from north Arabian Sea on to land.

2. This strong SW-flow sometimes is so well organized and well directed at lower levels (850 to 700
hpa) that entire eastern belt of country (running north – south) is fed with considerable amount of moisture,
which when gets interacted with southeasterly deflected moist monsoon current yields heavy downpour.

3. And the last but not the least is the passage of westerly trough through northern areas of Pakistan.
When westerly wave couples with the above mentioned two currents the result is in triplicates. In such case
moisture pumping gets underway from three reservoirs and sometimes torrential and devastating rainfall
happens to occur. The most glaring example of such a case is July 23, 2001 when capital city Islamabad
experienced all time record-breaking rainfall of 620mm in just 12 hrs.

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