ESS5
Prof. Jin-Yi Yu
•Pressure and winds associated with Hadley cells are close approximations of real world conditions
•Ferrel and Polar cells do not approximate the real world as
well
•Surface winds poleward of about 30o do not show the
persistence of the trade winds,
however, long-term averages do show a prevalence indicative of the westerlies and polar easterlies
•For upper air motions, the three-cell model is
unrepresentative
•The Ferrel cell implies easterlies in the upper atmosphere
where westerlies
dominate
•Overturning implied by the model is false
•The model does give a good, simplistic approximation of an
earth system devoid of
continents and topographic irregularities
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