Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Symposium and Workshop
- Introduction
- Part I Current trends and perspectives on people–land use–water issues
- Part II Hydrological processes in undisturbed forests
- 10 An overview of the meteorology and climatology of the humid tropics
- 11 Synoptic and mesoscale rain producing systems in the humid tropics
- 12 Climatic variability in the tropics
- 13 Controls on evaporation in lowland tropical rainforest
- 14 Runoff generation in tropical forests
- 15 Erosion and sediment yield in the humid tropics
- 16 Rainforest mineral nutrition: the ‘black box’ and a glimpse inside it
- 17 Hydrology of tropical wetland forests: recent research results from Sarawak peatswamps
- 18 Tropical montane cloud forest: a unique hydrological case
- Part III Forest disturbance, conversion and recovery
- Part IV New methods for evaluating effects of land-use change
- Part V Critical appraisals of best management practices
- Conclusion: Forests, water and people in the humid tropics: an emerging view
- Plate section
- References
10 - An overview of the meteorology and climatology of the humid tropics
from Part II - Hydrological processes in undisturbed forests
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Symposium and Workshop
- Introduction
- Part I Current trends and perspectives on people–land use–water issues
- Part II Hydrological processes in undisturbed forests
- 10 An overview of the meteorology and climatology of the humid tropics
- 11 Synoptic and mesoscale rain producing systems in the humid tropics
- 12 Climatic variability in the tropics
- 13 Controls on evaporation in lowland tropical rainforest
- 14 Runoff generation in tropical forests
- 15 Erosion and sediment yield in the humid tropics
- 16 Rainforest mineral nutrition: the ‘black box’ and a glimpse inside it
- 17 Hydrology of tropical wetland forests: recent research results from Sarawak peatswamps
- 18 Tropical montane cloud forest: a unique hydrological case
- Part III Forest disturbance, conversion and recovery
- Part IV New methods for evaluating effects of land-use change
- Part V Critical appraisals of best management practices
- Conclusion: Forests, water and people in the humid tropics: an emerging view
- Plate section
- References
Summary
INTRODUCTION
Because of the positive net radiation received in the tropics, this energy is the driver of the hydrological cycle, as is reflected in the frequency of some of the highest rainfall intensities (by global standards) found across the duration spectrum. There remains, however, considerable spatial and temporal variability in rainfall across the humid tropics. Such variability is partly a consequence of the different synoptic-scale, rain-producing meteorological phenomena which occur in this climatic region. Moreover, the link between synoptic climatology/rainfall characteristics/storm runoff hydrology, for example, is insufficiently represented within the hydrological literature, especially that pertaining to tropical forest hydrology.
Consequently, it will be necessary to go into some detail both within this chapter as we introduce the main features of the tropical atmosphere circulation and also in the subsequent one, where the focus is on particular synoptic- and meso-scale rain-producing systems, in an attempt to highlight the important linkage between synoptic climatology and rainfall characteristics. Later, varying responses in the storm runoff hydrology of tropical forests will be cross-referenced with material presented here.
Within the meteorological and climatological literature, there is no consensus on the terminology used to describe the various meteorological systems affecting the tropics. Commonly, many such rain-producing systems are ‘lumped’ under the phenomenon, the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). As this chapter (and the one following) will outline, the term ITCZ incorporates several phenomena between the synoptic (say 10° latitude by 40° longitude, Davidson et al., 1983) and mesoscale (length scale, 2–2000 km; Orlanski, 1975).
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- Chapter
- Information
- Forests, Water and People in the Humid TropicsPast, Present and Future Hydrological Research for Integrated Land and Water Management, pp. 158 - 193Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005
References
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