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The circulation of the atmosphere across the globe is complex and chaotic; as a result, long-term weather prediction is theoretically impossible in such a chaotic system. However, large-scale structures in atmospheric circulation are stable over time and can be predicted from a described by basic ideas about energy balance in the Earth system.
These constraints are developed explored in three other tank experiments described on this wiki: Balanced Motion, Fronts and Convection. Bringing these concepts together into a general circulation model explains the existence of some persistent features of the atmosphere, including the subtropical and polar jet streams, the trade winds, and the midlatitude bands in which rotating weather systems can be observed.
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