WE PROPOSE THE REINFORCEMENT AND AMPLIFICATION OF OUR EFFORT IN ORDER TO MORE COMPREHENSIVELY ADDRESSTHE EFFECTS OF THE INTENSE BIOMASS BURNING OBSERVED FROM SATELLITE YEAR AFTER YEAR ACROSS THE NSSA REGION ON THE RAPID DEPLETION OF THE REGIONAL WATER RESOURCES AS EXEMPLIFIED BY THE DRAMATIC DRYING OF LAKE CHAD. THIS PROPOSAL BRINGS TOGETHER A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAMOF SCIENTISTS FROM DIFFERENT BUT COMPLIMENTARY FIELDS OF EXPERTISE CONDUCTING AN INTEGRATED STUDY THAT IS REVEALING THE COUPLING OF THE AFORESAID PHENOMENA AND ASSOCIATED PROCESSES AND OUTCOMES. THROUGH THIS EFFORT WE AIM TO PROVIDE A ROBUST ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACTS OF RECENT (2000 TO THE PRESENT) BIOMASS-BURNING BY MONITORING AND ASSESSING MULTIPLE REGIONAL SURFACE ATMOSPHERIC AND WATER CYCLEPROCESSES THROUGH REMOTE SENSING AND MODELING APPROACHES THAT INTEGRATE RESEARCH SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND APPLICATIONS EXPERTISE TO BEST MAKE THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE VARIOUS IDENTIFIED PROCESSES AND PHENOMENA IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE CONCRETE RESULTS FOR SOCIETAL BENEFITS AND CLIMATE IMPACT ASSESSMENTS. THIS PROPOSAL RESPONDS TO TWO MAIN SUBELEMENTS OF THIS ROSES-2012 INTERDISCIPLINARYRESEARCH IN EARTH SCIENCE (IDS) PROGRAM SOLICITATION NAMELY (I) SUBELEMENT 2.3: THE WATER AND ENERGY CYCLE IMPACTS OF BIOMASS BURNING AND (II) SUBELEMENT 2.1: UNDERSTANDING EARTH SYSTEM VULNERABILITIES TO CLIMATE EXTREMES.