PLANETARY OBSERVATORY / 3D ATMOSPHERIC MODEL
WEBGL2 FALLBACK
SOUTHERN CELL
NORTHERN CELL
CONVECTIVE CLOUDS
DRAG TO ORBIT · SCROLL TO ZOOM · EXPLORE CLIMATE DYNAMICS
ATMOSPHERE HEIGHT: ~53× VERTICAL EXAGGERATION
MERIDIAN is an original, exploratory three-dimensional model of Earth's tropical atmospheric circulation. Move the season, strengthen the imposed temperature contrast, or change the chosen cell width, then observe how simulated meridional flow, the rising branch near the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), and solar energy gradients respond. The aim is not to reproduce today's weather. It is to connect the physics of solar geometry and large-scale atmospheric overturning to visually interpretable patterns.
The tropics receive more solar energy, on average over a year, than the polar regions. Solar radiation warms the surface and the lower atmosphere. Warm, moisture-bearing tropical air can rise in regions where the atmospheric column is unstable and surface winds converge. As the rising air cools, water vapor can condense and form deep clouds. Aloft, air can move toward the subtropics. In an idealized Hadley circulation, the air eventually sinks, warms by compression, and returns toward the equator near the surface.
This circulation transfers energy and moisture, shapes trade winds and tropical rain belts, and contributes to the relatively dry climate often found in subtropical regions. Real-world Hadley cells are not perfectly symmetric, continuous tubes. They vary with longitude, season, land–sea contrasts, topography, weather systems, and the distribution of clouds and oceans. MERIDIAN intentionally suppresses those complications to make the large-scale mechanism visible.
This is an educational, illustrative model of a fictional product: part names, masses, materials and operating figures are simplified and are not a manufacturer's drawing, a design basis or a safety/acceptance document.