KELVIN WAVES AND EASTERLY WAVES ARE AMONG THE MOST PROMINENT MODES OF SYNOPTIC-SCALE CONVECTIVE VARIABILITY IN THE TROPICS. RECENT STUDIES SUGGEST THAT INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THESE WAVES CAN LEAD TO TROPICAL CYCLOGENESIS. HOWEVER MANY QUESTIONS REMAIN REGARDING HOW THESE WAVES AFFECT ONE ANOTHER AND HOW CYCLOGENESIS ENSUES. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT WAYS THAT KELVIN WAVES MIGHT AFFECT EASTERLY WAVES RELATE TO THEIR MODULATION OF LOW-LEVEL WINDS WHICH MAY ALTER THE BACKGROUND SHEAR AND GRADIENT OF VORTICITY AND ENHANCE WAVE-MEAN FLOW INTERACTION. THE KELVIN WAVE WESTERLIES COULD ALSO ENHANCE SURFACE ENTHALPY FLUXES WITHIN THE EASTERLY WAVE WHICH WOULD LEAD TO INTENSIFICATION THROUGH DIABATIC HEATING. WHILE THE KINEMATIC VIEW OF THE INTERACTION APPEARS SIMPLE THE INHERENT DYNAMICS ARE EXPECTED TO BE COMPLEX AND NONLINEAR. THE IMMINENT LAUNCH OF THE CYGNSS CONSTELLATION OF SATELLITES WILL PROVIDE AN UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY TO OBSERVE AND MODEL THESE INTERACTIONS. THE HIGH SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL RESOLUTION OF CYGNSS IS IDEALLY SUITED FOR STUDYING KELVIN WAVES AND EASTERLY WAVES. THEY HAVE A PHASE SPEED OF ~20 M S1 RELATIVE TO ONE ANOTHER AND EACH HAVE WAVELENGTHS OF JUST 2000 4000 KM. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH ALIGNS CLEARLY WITH NASA OBJECTIVES BY LEVERAGING CYGNSS DATA TO INVESTIGATE THIS IMPORTANT PROBLEM. CASE STUDIES FROM THE FIRST YEAR OF CYGNSS DATA WILL BE COMPARED WITH CLIMATOLOGICAL COMPOSITES FROM MERRA-2 AND TRMM/ GPM. THIS INVESTIGATION WILL IDENTIFY THE EVOLUTION OF SURFACE WINDS AND ENTHALPY FLUXES IN KELVIN AND EASTERLY WAVES SEPARATELY AS WELL AS DURING INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THEM. THE ROLE OF MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE SYSTEMS (MCS) IN MEDIATING THE INTERACTION WILL ALSO BE INVESTIGATED. THE FINAL PHASE OF THIS PROJECT WILL USE IDEALIZED SIMULATIONS OF THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN KELVIN WAVES AND EASTERLY WAVES. THESE SIMULATIONS WILL SHED LIGHT INTO THE CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CHANGES IN THE SURFACE WINDS AND FLUXES DERIVED FROM CYGNSS OBSERVATIONS AND CHANGES IN THE AMPLITUDE OF EASTERLY WAVES. PARTICULAR FOCUS WILL BE PLACED EFFECT OF MOISTURE AND VORTICITY ADVECTIONS AS WELL AS SURFACE ENERGY FLUXES.