# Analytical Estimation of the Width of Hadley Cells in the Solar System

## TL;DR

This paper examines a formula for the width of Hadley cells across planets in the solar system, finding good agreement with observations when considering appropriate atmospheric thicknesses, and discusses factors affecting the cell width.

## Contribution

It extends the analytical estimation of Hadley cell width to other planets, highlighting the importance of atmospheric thickness and internal heat effects.

## Key findings

- Good prediction accuracy for terrestrial planets using pressure scale height.
- Deeper circulation layers in gas giants due to internal heat.
- Latent heat release may influence Earth's Hadley cell width.

## Abstract

The angular width of Earth's Hadley cell has been related to the square root of the product of the tropospheric thickness and the buoyancy frequency, and to the inverse of the square root of the angular velocity and the planetary radius. Here, this formulation is examined for other planetary bodies in the solar system. Generally good consistency is found between predictions and observations for terrestrial planets provided the pressure scale height rather than the tropopause height is assumed to determine the thickness of the tropospheric circulation. For gas giants, the relevant thickness is deeper than the scale height, possibly due to the internal heat produced by Kelvin-Helmholtz contraction. On Earth, latent heat release within deep convection may play a similar role in deepening and widening the Hadley Cell.