What is Walker Circulation?
The Walker circulation causes an upwelling of cold deep sea water, thus cooling the sea surface. El Niño results when this circulation decreases or stops, as the impaired or inhibited circulation causes the ocean surface to warm to above average temperatures.
What is the Walker Circulation quizlet?
What is the Walker Circulation Cell? It is the path that air takes as it moves from high to low pressure, and back to high pressure, in the South Pacific under normal conditions.
What causes Walker Circulation?
This circulation, known as the Walker circulation, is caused by the sharp contrast in sea surface temperature across the tropical Pacific Ocean. The western tropical Pacific contains the warmest regions of the world’s ocean, known as the Western Pacific Warm Pool, where the sea surface temperature is above 28°C.
Where is the Walker Circulation found?
equatorial Pacific
The longitudinal (east-west) circulation across the equatorial Pacific is known as the Walker cell or Walker circulation.
How does Walker circulation differ from Hadley circulation?
The Hadley cell causes air to rise near the equator, and the Walker cell results in air rising over the western Pacific Ocean. So, in general, rainfall amounts increase near the equator, and as you travel westward across the Pacific.
How does El Nino affect Walker circulation?
During an El Niño event, the Walker Circulation is greatly diminished. Increased precipitation and abnormally warm water are found in the central Pacific during an El Niño event (or ENSO warm phase). These changes in weather patterns have a cascading effect on weather patterns in other parts of the world.
What is the Walker cell quizlet?
The Walker cell is a thermally direct cell with rising air in the warm branch and sinking air in the cold branch.
How is La Nina different from normal circulation?
During La Niña, it’s the opposite. The surface winds across the entire tropical Pacific are stronger than usual, and most of the tropical Pacific Ocean is cooler than average. Generalized Walker Circulation (December-February) anomaly during La Niña events, overlaid on map of average sea surface temperature anomalies.
Why does the Walker Circulation weaken?
Yet, even such a weak surface warming influences the Walker circulation through changes in global hydrology. As the surface warms, water vapor in the atmosphere increases at a higher rate than is lost by precipitation, necessitating a weakening of the Walker cell.
What is Walker Circulation Upsc?
The Walker circulation is the result of a difference in surface pressure and temperature over the western and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. This air circulation displaces surface water towards the western pacific causing cold water from beneath the ocean to move upward.
How does Walker Circulation differ from Hadley circulation?
How does El Nino affect Walker Circulation?
What is the Walker circulation in geography?
Walker Circulation. The Walker circulation is an ocean-based system of air circulation that influences weather on the Earth. The Walker circulation is the result of a difference in surface pressure and temperature over the western and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
What is Walker’s model of air circulation?
According to this model, parcels of air follow a closed circulation in the zonal and vertical directions. This circulation, which is roughly consistent with observations, is caused by differences in heat distribution between ocean and land. It was discovered by Gilbert Walker.
What happens when the Walker circulation reverses?
The Walker circulation reverses every few years, as part of a phenomenon called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). When the Walker circulation weakens, the winds also weaken and the warm water of the western Pacific spreads to the east. These conditions are called El Niño.
What causes the Walker circulation in Indonesia?
The Walker circulation is caused by the pressure gradient force that results from a high pressure system over the eastern Pacific Ocean and a low pressure system over Indonesia. The Walker circulation causes an upwelling of cold deep sea water, thus cooling the sea surface.