THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO INVESTIGATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PHYTOPLANKTON AND SEA SURFACE AEROSOL (SSA). SPECLFLCALLY TWO HYPOTHESES WILL BE TESTED: (1) PHYTOPLANKTON BLOOM STATE DOES NOT CONTROL THE DEGREE OF ORGANIC ENRICHMENT OR THE CLOUD CONDENSATION NUCLEI (CCN) ACTIVITY IN FRESHLY EMITTED SSA AND (2) THE PLANKTON ECOSYSTEM AFFECTS THE NUMBER PRODUCTION FLUX OF SSA AND THUS THE NUMBER OF SSA CCN IN THE MARINE ATMOSPHERE. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY ANALYZING SEA SPRAY DATA COLLECTED BY DR. BATES AND HIS TEAM DURING THE FOUR NAAMES RESEARCH CRUISES. ALL DATA WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE NAAMES SCIENCE TEAM AND ARCHIVED IN THE NASA NAAMES ARCHIVE. HE WILL PARTICIPATE IN NAAMES TELECONS AND THE SUMMER 2019 SCIENCE TEAM MEETING. THE OBJECTIVES OF DR. BATES' RESEARCH PLAN ARE WELL ALIGNED WITH THE OBJECTIVES OF THE NMMES PROJECT (SEE BELOW) AND ARE CRITICAL TO UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT PHYTOPLANKTON HAS ON AEROSOLS IN THE MARINE ATMOSPHERE.