  A review of non-local, deep transport mechanisms in the atmosphere of Earth
provides a good foundation for examining whether similar mechanisms are
operating in the atmospheres of Mars and Titan. On Earth, deep convective
clouds in the tropics constitute the upward branch of the Hadley Cell and
provide a conduit through which energy, moisture, momentum, aerosols and
chemical species are moved from the boundary layer to the upper troposphere and
lower stratosphere. This transport produces mid-tropospheric minima in
quantities such as water vapor and moist static energy and maxima where the
clouds detrain. Analogs to this terrestrial transport are found in the strong
and deep thermal circulations associated with topography on Mars and with Mars
dust storms. Observations of elevated dust layers on Mars further support the
notion that non-local deep transport is an important mechanism in the
atmosphere of Mars. On Titan, the presence of deep convective clouds almost
assures that non-local, deep transport is occurring and these clouds may play a
role in global cycling of energy, momentum, and methane. Based on the potential
importance of non-local deep transport in Earth's atmosphere and supported by
evidence for such transport in the atmospheres of Mars and Titan, greater
attention to this mechanism in extraterrestrial atmospheres is warranted.
