Violation of Ekman Balance in the Eastern Pacific ITCZ Boundary Layer

The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is one of the most striking features of Earth's climate system, often forming a narrow band of convection over many oceanic regions, especially in eastern ocean basins. It is not well understood why the ITCZ is so thin; however, a recent study highlighted that classical Ekman balance is not obeyed near the equator and nonlinear horizontal wind advection can localize ITCZ boundary layer vertical motion so that it becomes very narrow and intense. In this study, we use a similar model but with more realistic forcings from the Year of Tropical Convection (YOTC) reanalysis, focusing on the eastern Pacific Ocean ITCZ. The model is a zonally symmetric, slab (subcloud) boundary layer numerical model on the sphere, which can be considered the simplest dry model of the ITCZ. Due to the slab model's simplicity, simulations are conducted at a range of resolutions, from 1 degrees to 1 km. The slab model dynamical fields are in general agreement with the YOTC dynamical fields and precipitation estimates from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission for one summer and two spring ITCZ cases. We find that Ekman balance is indeed violated within 10 degrees-15 degrees of the equator and nonlinear horizontal wind advection is crucial to understanding the preferential location, width, and intensity of the eastern Pacific ITCZ. Additionally, it appears that these boundary layer processes involved in ITCZ intensification and narrowing are dependent on model resolution such that present-day general circulation models likely cannot sufficiently resolve them.