Hadley Cell

The hadley cell refers to a somewhat idealized vertical circulation of air in the Earth's atmosphere and comprises the principal component of the general circulation pattern of the Earth's atmosphere. The Hadley Cells are comprised of a trough of low pressure girdling the globe in an equatorial and tropical band (the intertropical convergence zone, or ITCZ) and its associated rising air and a ridge of high pressure (the subtropical highs) where the air subsides back to the surface. A Hadley Cell thus circulates roughly from between 0 degrees latitude and 30 degrees latitude, north and south, although the actual latitudes will shift over the course of the year as the subsolar point passes between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn over the course of the ...