Hadley cell


Hadley cell

[′had·lē ‚sel] (meteorology) A direct, thermally driven, and zonally symmetric circulation first proposed by George Hadley as an explanation for the trade winds; it consists of the equatorward movement of the trade winds between about latitude 30° and the equator in each hemisphere, with rising wind components near the equator, poleward flow aloft, and finally descending components at about latitude 30° again.