Friday, March 14, 2008

Global Winds, Global Pressure Zones, and Directional Global Winds



Global Winds: cover large areas of the globe at one time. Warm air rises at low pressure areas. Once it reaches an area of high pressure, the air cools. The cooled air will then sink back and travel back toward a low pressure area. This all takes place within a "section" of the globe we refer to as a circulation cell. There are three cells in each of the hemispheres. they are:
  • Polar Cells
  • Ferrel Cells
  • Hadley Cells




Global Presure Zones: Doldrum: low pressure areas around the equator where winds are calm. Horse Latitude (aka subtropical high): hot, dry air, most desserts are located in these latitudes. Polar Fronts: cold air form the poles sinks down and meets with westerlies. Sub Polar Lows: storms often develop here




Directional Global Winds: Trade Wind: Winds meet at the equator. Westerlies: blow poleward side of horse latitudes. Westerlies means the winds are traveling from the west to the east. Polar Easterlies: shallow winds from the NE located in low pressure regions of polar cells.



global winds
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