The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), is the region that circles the Earth, near the equator, where the trade winds of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres come together. The intense sun and warm water of the equator heats the air in the ITCZ, raising its humidity and causing it to rise. As the air rises it cools, releasing the accumulated moisture in an almost perpetual series of thunderstorms.

Variation in the location of the ITCZ drastically affects rainfall in many equatorial nations, resulting in the wet and dry seasons of the tropics rather than the cold and warm seasons of higher latitudes. Longer term changes in the ITCZ can result in severe droughts or flooding in nearby areas.

This image is a combination of cloud data from NOAA’s newest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-11) and color land cover classification data. The ITCZ is the band of bright white clouds that cuts across the center of the image.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=703

	本作品由NASA創作，屬於公有領域。根據NASA的版權政策：“NASA的創作除非另有聲明否則不受版權保護。”（參見：Template:PD-USGov/zh，NASA版權政策或JPL圖像使用政策）
	警告: 使用NASA的logo，徽標等受到美國法律14 CFR 1221的限制。 NASA網站還提供大量來自蘇聯/俄羅斯航天機構，以及其他非美國的太空機構的圖像。這些圖像不一定屬於公有領域。 根據哈勃空間望遠鏡的數據制作的素材，如果不是明確聲明由STScI提供，則可能受到版權保護。[1] 參看{{PD-Hubble}}和{{Cc-Hubble}}或{{Spacetelescope.org}}。 SOHO (ESA & NASA)聯合項目的探測器所創作的所有內容受到著作權保護，並且進行非教育性質的商業應用需要授權。[2] 每日一天文圖（APOD）網站的特色圖片可能受到著作權保護。[3]