| Webster's Online Dictionary |
| Expressions | Definition | ||
| Hadley cell | In the early 1700s, George Hadley, an English lawyer and amateur meteorologist, set out to determine what it was that caused the Northern-hemisphere trade winds to blow west instead of straight south. Edmond Halley, the astronomer noted for the comet bearing his name, had some years earlier proposed a theory of circulation which would result in trade winds, but which could not take into account their change in direction. It was Hadley who realized that a rotating coordinate system would be required to describe the motions of the winds, and hence, that Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis’ work in producing the necessary equations would be germane to his own work. And so it was that the necessary critical link was added which resulted in Hadley’s description of the equatorial zone circulation cell, which is known today as the Hadley cell. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
| Expressions | Domain | Definition | |
| Hadley Cell | Aerospace | 1: A thermally driven, global band of rotating air approximately 30 latitude in width, in both the northern and southern hemispheres, that drives weather systems and controls climate. (references) | |
| 2: A thermal circulation consisting of rising air near the equator and sinking air near 30 degrees latitude. (references) | |||
| Hadley cell | Geography | Meridional circulation first proposed by G. Hadley (1735) as an explanation for the trade winds. Source: European Union. (references) | |
| Hadley cell | Weather | A direct thermally-driven and zonally symmetric large- scale atmospheric circulation first proposed by George Hadley in 1735 as an explanation for the trade winds. It carries momentum, sensible heat, and potential heat from the tropics to the mid-latitudes (30 degrees). The poleward transport aloft is complemented by subsidence in the subtropical high pressure ridge and a surface return flow. The variability of this cell and the Walker cell is hypothesized to be a major factor in short-term climatic change. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
