417 words used in the labs.

Find a term from the labs, understand the process behind it, and see how it appears in the landscape. Each entry connects an explanation with a real observation and a model you can explore.

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Term

Subtropical high

A region of relatively high atmospheric pressure commonly found near the poleward side of the Hadley circulation. Descending air tends to suppress cloud formation, helping explain many subtropical dry regions. Its position and strength vary with season and geography.

What to look for

GOES-East cloud observations over the Americas, 22 April 2014. Tropical cloud bands and midlatitude systems provide evidence of atmospheric circulation. The three-cell pattern is a long-term zonal average, not three fixed cloud rings in this single image.

Related labs

Three-cell circulation →Ocean currents →

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