The Regional Variability of the Hadley Circulation and its Relation to Precipitation and Atmospheric Dynamics

The Hadley circulation is widely understood as a large-scale overturning tropical circulation owing to the differential solar heating from the equator poleward. The global Hadley cell provides much information regarding precipitation, the zonal wind, and the subtropical dry zone. While the concept of the mean global Hadley cell is well established, the intensity of the circulation on the regional scale is different. Computational data and analysis of the correlation between the Hadley circulation and environmental factors is key to better understanding this difference in the regional versus global Hadley circulation. The methods used to discern this disparity involved investigating the precipitation, the zonal wind, and the subtropical dry zone as well as the Hadley cell intensity over a period of 35 years from 1979-2013. The correlation and composite maps demonstrate the influences of the Hadley circulation on environmental variables. In order to address the temporal variability, a simple time series analysis was utilized to compare the global and regional Hadley cells. The purpose of this research is to better understand the regional Hadley cell variability in the Indian Ocean, the West Pacific, and the East Pacific in order to comprehend how this affects tropical weather and dynamics.