What is ferrel?

Ferrel may refer to several things, most notably:

  • William Ferrel (1817–1891), an American meteorologist and geophysicist. He is best known for his research on the theoretical explanation of atmospheric and oceanic currents.

  • The Ferrel Cell, a mid-latitude mean atmospheric circulation cell. It is theorized to lie between the Hadley cell and the Polar cell. In this zone, surface air flow is directed poleward and eastward and the high-altitude air flow is directed equatorward and westward.

  • The Ferrel's law is an archaic physics term, and refers to how an object moves due to the rotation of the Earth. It describes how, due to the <ins>Coriolis effect</ins> in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, a moving object deflects to the right. In the Southern Hemisphere, the deflection is to the left.