How do Hadley cells affect precipitation?
3 min read
Asked by: Christine Washington
The most notable impact is its influence on precipitation distribution. When the sun heats air at the equator, it also encourages evaporation. When a humid mass of air cools down, as it does when it rises, moisture in the air will condense into clouds, which then precipitate large amounts of rain over the equator.
Do Hadley cells cause precipitation?
The Hadley cell controls precipitation in the subtropics and it creates a region called the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), which produces a band of intense and wet storms.
How are Hadley cells and precipitation related?
Hadley cells exist on either side of the equator. Each cell encircles the globe latitudinally and acts to transport energy from the equator to about the 30th latitude. The circulation exhibits the following phenomena: Warm, moist air converging near the equator causes heavy precipitation.
What precipitation patterns are caused by Hadley cell circulation?
Hadley cell circulation occurs at a global scale from tropical atmospheric circulation in which air rising near the equator flows toward the poles at 10–15 km above the surface. This circulation produces the trade winds, tropical rainbelts, hurricanes, tropical cyclones, jet streams, and subtropical deserts.
How do Hadley cells affect weather?
Hadley Cells are the low-latitude overturning circulations that have air rising at the equator and air sinking at roughly 30° latitude. They are responsible for the trade winds in the Tropics and control low-latitude weather patterns.
What happens in Hadley cells?
In the Hadley cell, air rises up into the atmosphere at or near the equator, flows toward the poles above the surface of the Earth, returns to the Earth’s surface in the subtropics, and flows back towards the equator. This flow of air occurs because the Sun heats air at the Earth’s surface near the equator.
Why does Hadley cell cause deserts?
As the air leaves the equator, it rains away more moisture, becoming denser and slightly cooler, until finally dry, it sinks, creating the arid bands where many of the world’s famous deserts lie. This giant atmospheric conveyor belt, officially called a Hadley cell, brings us both tropical rain forests and deserts.
What mechanisms produce high precipitation at temperate latitudes?
What mechanisms produce high precipitation at temperate latitude? It is at the temperate latitudes where the convergence of moist subtropical air and cold polar air causes forced condensation. Also, the region receives the most intense sun radiation per unit area, thus, increased evaporation.
What would happen if there were no Hadley cells?
Atmospheric circulation is an important component of Earth’s climate. Without it, the transport of heat and water across the globe would be virtually nonexistent, which would be bad news for life in most areas of the world.
