Remember Convection Cells CONVECTION CELLS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

Remember Convection Cells?

CONVECTION CELLS IN THE ATMOSPHERE …or why there’s wind.

Remember the Heating of the Earth? 1) Why are there seasons? Think of the length of day and where the sun is in the sky. Don’t use the word tilt. Use this link to look at light and dark parts of Earth. TILT

Hadley Cell One convection cell forms over the equator, due to warming from the sun on the surface. v This causes the air to rise and lose moisture, causing rainforests. v This is the Hadley Cell v

Ferrel Cell When the cool, dry air drops down to the surface, some goes north. v When this air mass moves across the land, it heats up v This eventually causes it to rise. v

Arctic Cell Forms around the poles. v Caused by warmer air getting pushed up through convection and contact with the Ferrel cell. v Dry, cool air falls to ground near the poles, meaning very little precipitation. It’s a desert! v

Global Weather Patterns: Click on this link and describe the patterns you see. High speed time lapse of the globe 2) Describe what you see when using the simulation linked. Think about convection cells (Hadley cell). Where are the rainiest areas on this map? 3) Where are the deserts of the earth located? Think about circulation cells and use them to explain why some areas get very little rain.

Coriolis Effect Causes air to be deflected to the west as it moves towards the equator Air is deflected to the east as it moves towards to poles. This is because of the differing “angular velocities” of the earth’s rotation at different latitudes (faster at the equator, slower at the poles).

Based on the animation provided by this link, understand why the Coriolis effect makes things like rockets, airplanes and wind bend to the right in the Northern Hemisphere. Merry Go Round Ships shooting canons