I PROPOSE TO WORK WITH NASA SCIENTISTS INCLUDING DR. PETER COLARCO OF GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER TO IMPROVE INTERPRETATIONS OF REMOTE SENSING OBSERVATIONS OF STRATOSPHERIC AND UPPER TROPOSPHERIC AEROSOLS FROM NASA INSTRUMENTS (E.G. OMPS LP SAGE-III/ISS AND CALIOP) AND NON-NASA SENSORS (E.G. OSIRIS AND SCIAMACHY) BY ENHANCING STRATOSPHERIC AEROSOL SIMULATION CAPABILITIES IN THE GODDARD EARTH OBSERVING SYSTEM VERSION 5 (GEOS-5). BY FURTHER DEVELOPING THE COMMUNITY AEROSOL AND RADIATION MODEL FOR ATMOSPHERES (CARMA) A SECTIONAL AEROSOL MODEL COUPLED TO GEOS-5 WE WILL BE ABLE TO BETTER INTERPRET AND SYNTHESIZE THE DATA FROM THESE SPACE-BASED SENSORS TO GAIN A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MICROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF AEROSOLS IN THE STRATOSPHERE AND UPPER TROPOSPHERE. THESE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES WOULD BE ACCOMPLISHED IN THREE PARTS. FIRST SIMULATIONS AND ANALYSIS OF AEROSOLS FOLLOWING THE 1991 ERUPTION OF MOUNT PINATUBO USING GEOS-5/CARMA ALONGSIDE SAGE II DATA WILL BE COMPLETED. THIS PHASE OF THE RESEARCH BEGAN AS PART OF A NASA INTERNSHIP DURING THE SUMMER OF 2017 AND IS STILL ONGOING. NEXT SIMULATIONS OF THE NUMEROUS SMALLER VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS IN THE MODERN ERA WILL BE COMPLETED WITH A FOCUS ON INTERPRETING CURRENT SATELLITE DATA. USING A CUTTING-EDGE AEROSOL MODEL ALONGSIDE GEOS-5 WE WILL BE ABLE TO GLEAN NEW INFORMATION FROM THE MODERN EARTH-OBSERVING SATELLITES. THE LAST COMPONENT OF THE PROPOSAL IS TO EXPAND THE CAPABILITIES OF THE GEOS-5/CARMA COUPLED MODEL FOR FURTHER INTERPRETATION OF REMOTE SENSING DATA RELEVANT TO AEROSOLS. THESE CAPABILITIES WOULD INCLUDE IMPLEMENTING MORE AEROSOL SPECIES AND HETEROGENEOUS PARTICLES IN GEOS-5/CARMA EXPANDING ITS USEFULNESS TO OTHER TYPES OF AEROSOL SIMULATIONS INCLUDING WILDFIRES BIOMASS BURNING AND METEORIC SMOKE. EACH PHASE OF THE RESEARCH IS RELEVANT TO THE ESD GOALS MOST SPECIFICALLY "ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION". FIRST BY FINISHING THE GEOS-5 SIMULATIONS OF PINATUBO AND COMPARING THEM WITH SAGE-II AND GROUND-BASED MEASUREMENTS WE WILL BE ADVANCING UNDERSTANDING OF ONE OF THE MOST EXTREME STRATOSPHERIC AEROSOL EVENTS IN THE SATELLITE ERA. THIS WILL IMPROVE THE MODEL'S CAPABILITY IN FORECASTING THE EFFECTS OF OTHER VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS. NEXT BY APPLYING THE GEOS-5/CARMA MODEL TO THE MODERN ERA WE WILL STILL BE ADVANCING THE ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION GOAL WHILE ALSO LEVERAGING THE MODEL'S SKILL IN INTERPRETING UNIQUE NASA REMOTE SENSING DATA FROM THE PAST 15 YEARS. SPECIFICALLY THE WORK THROUGHOUT THIS PROPOSAL WILL USE THE NASA SENSORS OMPS LP SAGE-III/ISS AND CALIOP. THE LAST PHASE DEVELOPING CARMA'S CAPABILITIES WITHIN GEOS-5 WOULD CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS AS OUTLINED IN THE SOLICITATION "RESEARCH ON THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEXT GENERATION WEATHER AND CLIMATE MODELS".