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A Theory for the Hadley Cell Descending and Ascending Edges Throughout the Annual Cycle


We present a theory for the latitudinal extents of both Hadley cells throughout the annual cycle by combining our recent scaling for the ascending edge latitude (Hill et al. 2021) based on low-latitude supercriticality with the theory for the poleward, descending edge latitudes of Kang and Lu (2012) based on baroclinic instability and a uniform Rossby number (Ro) within each cell’s upper branch. The resulting expressions for all three Hadley cell edges are predictive except for diagnosed values of Ro and two proportionality constants. Thermal inertia—which damps and lags the ascent latitude relative to the insolation—is accounted for semi-analytically through the Mitchell et al. (2014) model of an “effective” seasonal forcing cycle. Our theory, given empirically an additional ~1-month lag for the descending edge, captures the climatological annual cycle of the ascending and descending edges in an Earth-like simulation in an idealized aquaplanet general circulation model (GCM). In simulations in this and two other idealized GCMs with varied planetary rotation rate (Ω), the winter, descending edge of the solsticial, cross-equatorial Hadley cell scales approximately as Ω−1/2 and the summer, ascending edge as Ω−2/3, both in accordance with our theory. Possible future refinements and tests of the theory are discussed.