Global Atmospheric Circulation Model
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The global atmospheric circulation can be described as a worldwide system of winds moving heat FROM the equator TO the poles to reach a balance in temperature
Wind formation
- Air always moves from high pressure to lower pressure, and this movement of air generates wind
- Winds are large scale movements of air due to differences in air pressure
- This pressure difference is because the Sun heats the Earth's surface unevenly
- Insolation that reaches the Earth's surface is greater at the equator than at the poles due to Earth's curvature and angle of the Earth's tilt
Angle of insolation
- Hot air rises and cooler air sinks through the process of convection
- The irregular heating of Earth’s surface creates various pressure cells, each generating different weather patterns
- The movement of air within each cell is roughly circular and moves surplus heat from equatorial regions to other parts the Earth
- The three-cell model shows global circulation: the Hadley, Ferrel and Polar cells
Exam Tip
What is weather?
Remember that weather is what you get locally on a day-to-day basis, but climate is what you expect a place to be over time (usually 30 years).
You expect the UK to be wet and cold (not always but mostly!), but you would expect the Mediterranean to be warm - that is climate.
The 3-cell atmospheric wind model
- Each hemisphere has three cells (the Hadley cell, Ferrel cell and Polar cell) which circulates air from the surface through the atmosphere and back to the Earth's surface
- Hadley cell is the largest cell and extends from the equator to between 30° and 40° north and south
- Trade winds that blow from the tropical regions to the equator and travel in an easterly direction
- Near the equator, the trade winds meet, and the hot air rises and form thunderstorms (tropical rainstorms)
- From the top of these storms, air flows towards higher latitudes, where it becomes cooler and sinks over subtropical regions
- This brings dry, cloudless air, which is warmed by the Sun as it descends - the climate is warm and dry (hot deserts are usually found here)
- Ferrel cell is the middle cell, and generally occurs from the edge of the Hadley cell to between 60° and 70° north and south of the equator
- This is the most complicated cell as it moves in the opposite direction from the Hadley and Polar cells; similar to a cog in a machine
- Air in this cell joins the sinking air of the Hadley cell and travels at low heights to mid-latitudes where it rises along the border with the cold air of the Polar cell
- This occurs around the mid-latitudes and accounts for frequent unsettled weather (particularly the UK)
- Polar cell is the smallest and weakest of the atmospheric cells. It extends from the edge of the Ferrel cell to the poles at 90° north and south
- Air in these cells is cold and sink creating high pressure over the highest latitudes
- The cold air flows out towards the lower latitudes at the surface, where it is slightly warmed and rises to return at altitude to the poles
Coriolis effect
- Each cell has prevailing winds associated with it
- These winds are influenced by the Coriolis effect
- The Coriolis effect is the appearance that global winds, and ocean currents curve as they move
- The curve is due to the Earth's rotation on its axis, and this forces the winds to actually blow diagonally
- The Coriolis effect influences wind direction around the world in this way:
- In the northern hemisphere it curves winds to the right
- In the southern hemisphere it curves them left
- The exception is when there is a low-pressure system:
- In these systems, the winds flow in reverse (anti clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere)
Global wind belts: Surface winds
- The combination of pressure cells, the Coriolis effect and the 3-cells produce wind belts in each hemisphere:
- The trade winds: Blow from the subtropical high-pressure belts (30 degrees N and S) towards the Equator's low-pressure zones and are deflected by the Coriolis force
- The westerlies: Blow from the sub-tropical high-pressure belts to the mid-latitude low areas, but again, are deflected by the Coriolis force
- The easterlies: Polar easterlies meet the westerlies at 60 degrees S
- Global atmospheric circulation affects the Earth's climate
- It causes some areas to have certain types of weather more frequently than other areas:
- The UK has a lot of low-pressure weather systems that are blown in from the Atlantic Ocean on south-westerly winds, bringing wet and windy weather
Worked example
Explain the link between global air pressure and surface wind belts.
[4 marks]
- The command word here is 'explain', so you will need to include what/where and why
Answer:
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- Sinking air causes high pressure (1) causing winds to move away/diverge [1] to meet in areas of low pressure [1] e.g. the Polar highs/easterlies meet the westerlies (low pressure) at 60 degrees N and S of the Equator [1]
- Winds blow from high pressure areas to low pressure areas [1] such as the trade winds blowing from 30 degrees N and S towards the Equator [1]