Abstract

Tropical meteorology is the study of weather and climate systems in the tropics. The tropics are the source of energy and angular momentum for the global atmospheric circulation. Due to the weak Coriolis force and warm sea surface temperature, the atmospheric processes in the tropics differ from those in higher latitudes in various ways. The major tropical weather and climate systems, including El Niño-Southern Oscillation, monsoons, the Hadley circulation, the MJO and tropical cyclones, are briefly described here.