ASSIMILATING GPM SATELLITE RADIANCES AND CYGNSS OCEAN SURFACE WINDS INTO THE NCEP NEW-GENERATION NON-HYDROSTATIC GLOBAL FORECAST MODEL FOR IMPROVED PREDICTION OF TROPICAL CONVECTIONTHE REALISTIC REPRESENTATION OF TROPICAL CONVECTION IN GLOBAL ATMOSPHERIC MODELS IS A LONG-STANDING CHALLENGE FOR NUMERICAL WEATHER FORECASTS AND GLOBAL CLIMATE PREDICTIONS. ACCURATE SPECIFICATION OF ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICAL MOISTURE CLOUD AND PRECIPITATION CONDITIONS IS ESSENTIAL FOR NUMERICAL PREDICTION OF TROPICAL CONVECTIVE SYSTEMS. THE RECENT LAUNCH OF THE NASA GLOBAL PRECIPITATION MISSION (GPM) ALLOWS SIGNIFICANT DATA SOURCES TO BE USED TO HELP DEPICT THE STRUCTURE OF TROPICAL CONVECTIVE SYSTEMS AND PROPERTIES IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT. IN ADDITION THE NASA CYCLONE GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM (CYGNSS) TO BE LAUNCHED IN LATE 2016 WILL OFFER A USEFUL SOURCE OF OCEAN SURFACE WIND DATA. SPECIFICALLY DUE TO ITS ABILITY TO OBTAIN WIND SPEEDS OVER THE CORE REGIONS OF TROPICALCYCLONES AND MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE SYSTEMS CYGNSS PROVIDES UNIQUE DATA FOR IMPROVING TROPICAL CONVECTIVE WEATHER PREDICTION.WE PROPOSE HERE AN EFFORT TO ASSIMILATE GPM MICROWAVE IMAGE (GMI) SATELLITE RADIANCES AND CYGNSS-RETRIEVED (LEVEL-II) WIND SPEEDS INTO THE NOAA NEXT-GENERATION GLOBAL PREDICTION SYSTEM (NGGPS) SPECIFICALLY THE NCEP NEW-GENERATION NON-HYDROSTATIC GLOBAL FORECAST MODEL FOR IMPROVED TROPICAL CONVECTION AND PREDICTION. THE NCEP OPERATIONAL GRIDPOINT STATISTICAL INTERPOLATION (GSI)- BASED HYBRID 4D ENVAR DATA ASSIMILATION SYSTEM WILL BE USED. THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THE PROJECT IS TO ASSIMILATE THE GPM AND CYGNSS SATELLITE DATA INTO THE NCEP QUASI-OPERATIONAL/OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT. THE SCIENTIFIC SCOPE AND RESEARCH TASKS INCLUDE: 1) DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE BIAS CORRECTION SCHEMES FOR ASSIMILATING GPM MICROWAVE IMAGER (GMI) CLEAR-SKY RADIANCES; 2) EVALUATING SUPER-OBS AND LOCALIZATION METHODS FOR IMPROVED ASSIMILATION OF CYGNSS OCEAN SURFACE WINDS; 3) FILTERING OUT THE HIGH-FREQUENCY OSCILLATIONS(IMBALANCE) INTRODUCED BY THE DATA ASSIMILATION SYSTEM; AND 4) MOVING TOWARD THE ASSIMILATION OF ALL-SKY GPM SATELLITE RADIANCES.WITH THEIR CURRENT RESEARCH THE PROJECT PI AND HER RESEARCH TEAM HAVE ALREADY PROVEN THAT ASSIMILATION OF GPM CLEAR-SKY RADIANCES AND CYGNSS WIND SPEEDS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE TROPICAL CYCLONE PREDICTIONS AND THEIR ASSOCIATED CONVECTIVE ACTIVITIES IN A REGIONAL MODEL. WITH THIS PROPOSED PROJECT IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE TRANSITION FROM THESE RECENT EFFORTS AND NEW DEVELOPMENTSWILL BE MADE TO ASSIMILATE GPM CLEAR-SKY RADIANCES AND CYGNSS LEVEL-II SURFACE WIND SPEED DATA INTO THE NCEP NEW-GENERATION OPERATIONAL GLOBAL NON-HYDROSTATIC FORECAST SYSTEM. THE COLLABORATION WITH SCIENTISTS AT THE NCEP ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING CENTER AND THE USE OF THE NCEP OPERATIONAL GLOBAL MODEL AND DATA ASSIMILATION SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE A DIRECT PATH TO TRANSFERRING THE OUTCOMESFROM THIS PROJECT INTO THE NCEP OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT.