Editing Troposphere (section)

===Three-cell model===
[[File:Zonalflow.gif|thumb|right|upright=1.35|'''Zonal Flow:''' a [[zonal flow regime]] indicates the dominant west-to-east flow of the atmosphere in the 500 hPa height pattern.]]
[[File:Meridionalflowpattern.jpg|thumb|right|'''Meridional Flow:''' The meridional flow pattern of 23 October 2003 shows amplified troughs and ridges in the 500 hPa height pattern.]]
{{Main|Atmospheric circulation}}
The three-cell model of the atmosphere of the Earth describes the actual flow of the atmosphere with the tropical-latitude [[Hadley cell]], the mid-latitude [[Ferrel cell]], and the [[Polar vortex|polar cell]] to describe the flow of energy and the circulation of the planetary atmosphere. Balance is the fundamental principle of the model — that the solar energy absorbed by the Earth in a year is equal to the energy radiated (lost) into outer space. The Earth's energy balance does not equally apply to each latitude because of the varying strength of the sunlight that strikes each of the three atmospheric cells, consequent to the inclination of the axis of planet Earth within its orbit of the Sun. The resultant atmospheric circulation transports warm tropical air to the geographic poles and cold polar air to the tropics. The effect of the three cells is the tendency to the equilibrium of heat and moisture in the planetary atmosphere of Earth.<ref name="ThreecellEncarta">{{Cite web|title = Meteorology – MSN Encarta, "Energy Flow and Global Circulation"|publisher = Encarta.Msn.com |url = http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571037_3/Meteorology.html#s12|access-date  = 2006-10-13|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20091028225237/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571037_3/Meteorology.html|archive-date = 2009-10-28|url-status= dead}}</ref>