Definition
The Hadley cell on the Earth is a circulation pattern that dominates the tropical atmosphere, with rising motion near the equator, a compensatory sinking motion in the subtropics, poleward flow in the upper troposphere (7–20 km above the surface) and equatorward flow near the surface. The Hadley circulation cells, one on each hemisphere, cover about half of the Earth’s surface area. The Hadley cells carry heat and moisture from the tropics to the northern and southern mid-latitudes. Hadley cells are also present on other terrestrial bodies like Mars, Titan, or Venus. On a slowly rotating planet like Venus, the Hadley circulation can extend almost to the poles. Circulation cells like the Hadley cells probably exist also on other rocky exoplanets and influence their climate substantially.
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References and Further Reading
Chamberlain J, Hunten D (1987) Theory of planetary atmospheres. Academic, Orlando
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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Kaltenegger, L. (2014). Hadley Cells. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_689-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_689-2
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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