James C. Sadler was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 meteorologist

Meteorology

Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...

, and a Professor in Tropical Meteorology at the University of Hawaii

University of Hawaii

The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...

 where he taught for 22 years. He is considered one of the pioneers of tropical meteorological study.

Career

Sadler was born in Silver Point

Silver Point, Tennessee

Silver Point, Tennessee is an unincorporated rural settlement in Putnam County, Tennessee, scattered around the intersection of State Highway 141, State Highway 56, and Interstate 40, about halfway between Cookeville and Smithville.-Landmarks:...

, Putnam County, Tennessee

Putnam County, Tennessee

Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 62,315, a 21 percent increase from 1990. The was 72,321, an increase of 16.1% since 2000...

. He graduated with a civil engineering

Civil engineering

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...

 degree from the Tennessee Polytechnic Institute in 1941, receiving a meteorology certificate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

 in 1942, and later in 1947 earning a master's degree in meteorology from the University of California

University of California

The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...

. He spent a number of years in the American Air Force, where he made some important contributions towards satellite observations and tropical meteorology.

Publications

Sadler was the author of many books and essays on tropical meteorology including Average Cloudiness in the Tropics from Satellite Observations (1969) and Pacific Ocean Cloudiness from Satellite Observations (1976). Sadler documented the tropical cyclone

Tropical cyclone

A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...

s over the eastern North Pacific that were revealed by satellite observations, and suggested that the upper-tropospheric circulation is a factor of development, as well as the life history of the tropical cyclones. Using charts of mean 200-hectopascal

Pascal (unit)

The pascal is the SI derived unit of pressure, internal pressure, stress, Young's modulus and tensile strength, named after the French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and philosopher Blaise Pascal. It is a measure of force per unit area, defined as one newton per square metre...

 circulation for July through August to locate the circumpolar troughs and ridges, he observed that there is a trough line

Trough (meteorology)

A trough is an elongated region of relatively low atmospheric pressure, often associated with fronts.Unlike fronts, there is not a universal symbol for a trough on a weather chart. The weather charts in some countries or regions mark troughs by a line. In the United States, a trough may be marked...

 extending over the eastern and central North Pacific and another one extending over the North Atlantic. He also stated that the summer tropical upper tropospheric trough in the Southern Hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...

 lies over the trade wind

Trade wind

The trade winds are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics, within the lower portion of the Earth's atmosphere, in the lower section of the troposphere near the Earth's equator...

 region of the east central Pacific and can induce tropical cyclones.

According to Tom Schroeder, director of the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research

Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research

The Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research is an oceanic, atmospheric, and geophysical research institute that is sponsored jointly National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration /Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the University of Hawaii .The JIMAR research themes...

, "He was one of the foremost meteorologists of his time, and one of the founders of tropical meteorology as a discipline."

Family

Sadler died on September 2, 2005, survived by his wife, Nanell Harding Sadler, and two sons, James C. Sadler, Jr., and Glen H. Sadler.