Anti - pass is the name of westerly winds above the trade winds .
Feature
The vertical power of the trade winds increases towards the equator . Under the 20th parallel, it is about 2 - 4 km. Near the equator, especially in the summer hemisphere, the east winds already capture the entire troposphere and stratosphere . Where the trade winds extend to the entire troposphere , the winds above them have a prevailing westerly direction, the same that prevails in the middle and upper troposphere in extratropical latitudes.
Previously it was believed that anti-passats blow opposite to the surface direction of the trade-winds, that is, in the Northern Hemisphere from the southwest and in the Southern - from the northwest. Observations did not confirm this. Anti-passats are generally westerly winds, the same as in higher latitudes at the same levels. The meridional components in them are small and can be different in direction. However, the components that are directed from the equator to high latitudes still prevail.
Links and Sources
- Khromov S.P. Meteorology and Climatology.β L .: Hydrometeoizdat, 1968.