General Circulation

The mean state of the troposphere has been described in the previous chapter, with emphasis on features in the SH. In this chapter, we seek to explain the origin of these features in terms of the dominant processes that maintain the general circulation of the SH, primarily in the summer and winter seasons, and particularly in middle latitudes. More detailed discussions of the features in the Tropics and in high southern latitudes, and of the variability of the SH circulation, are given in chapters 3, 4, and 8, respectively.