PAST MODELING STUDIES HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT VARIATIONS IN AEROSOL NUMBER CONCENTRATION AND TYPE CAN SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT BOTH THE MICROPHYSICAL AND DYNAMICAL PROPERTIES OF CONVECTIVE CLOUDS. HOWEVER THE SIMULATED RESPONSES OF CONVECTIVE CLOUD CHARACTERISTICS TO AEROSOLS ARE FAR FROM CONSISTENT DUE IN PART TO THE LIMITED AVAILABILITY OF OBSERVATIONAL DATA TO INITIALIZE AND EVALUATE NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OUR LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF AEROSOL AND MICROPHYSICAL PROCESSES AND SHORTFALLS IN OUR MODEL PARAMETERIZATIONS. RECENT STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT INCREASES DECREASES OR LITTLE CHANGE TO CONVECTIVE RAINFALL CAN OCCUR IN RESPONSE TO INCREASED AEROSOL CONCENTRATIONS. ENHANCING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF AEROSOL IMPACTS ON CONVECTIVE CLOUDS AND THEREFORE THEIR REPRESENTATION IN NUMERICAL MODELS IS FURTHER COMPLICATED BY COMPLEX NON-LINEAR INTERACTIONS THAT EXIST AMONG THE MICROPHYSICAL AND DYNAMICAL PROCESSES OF CLOUDS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT. IN ORDER TO ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF AEROSOL PROCESSES AND THEIR MODULATION BY THE ENVIRONMENT AND HENCE BETTER PREDICT THESE PROCESSES USING NUMERICAL MODELS WE ARE IN CRITICAL NEED OF DETAILED HIGH RESOLUTION CO-LOCATED MEASUREMENTS OF AEROSOLS CLOUD MICROPHYSICS AND METEOROLOGICAL PROPERTIES. HIGHLY COMPLEX CLOUD-AEROSOL INTERACTIONS ARE OBSERVED TO OCCUR WITHIN CUMULUS AND CONGESTUS CLOUDS OVER THE MARITIME CONTINENT AND SOUTH CHINA SEA OFF THE WESTERN COAST OF THE PHILIPPINES DUE TO THE LARGE VARIETY OF AEROSOL SOURCES AND THE WIDE RANGE OF METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA THAT IMPACT THE REGION. THE CLOUDS AEROSOL MONSOON PROCESSES PHILIPPINES EXPERIMENT (CAMP2EX) WILL PROVIDE A ROBUST SUITE OF MEASUREMENTS WITHIN THIS IDEAL NATURAL LABORATORY THAT WILL HELP TO DISENTANGLE THE COMPLEX INTERPLAY AMONG AEROSOLS CLOUD AND THE ENVIRONMENT. THE SPECIFIC SCIENCE QUESTIONS THAT WE SEEK TO ANSWER ARE THE FOLLOWING: (1) HOW DO THE NUMBER CONCENTRATION AND TYPE OF AEROSOL PARTICLES AFFECT THE MICROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SHALLOW CUMULUS AND CONGESTUS CLOUDS AND THE SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT OF PRECIPITATION? (2) HOW DO THE NUMBER CONCENTRATION AND TYPE OF AEROSOLS IMPACT THE LATENT HEATING AND INVIGORATION OF CONGESTUS CLOUDS AND HENCE THEIR POTENTIAL TRANSITION TO DEEP CONVECTION AND GREATER PRECIPITATION PRODUCTION? (3) HOW DO AEROSOL NUMBER CONCENTRATION AND TYPE IMPACT COLD POOL INTENSITY AND THE SUBSEQUENT ORGANIZATION AND ENHANCEMENT OF CONVECTION? (4) IN WHAT MANNER ARE AEROSOL-CLOUD INTERACTIONS MODULATED BY ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AND WHICH FACTORS ARE PREDOMINANT IN REGULATING THESE INTERACTIONS? WE PROPOSE TO ADDRESS THESE SCIENCE QUESTIONS THOUGH A SYNERGISTIC APPROACH INVOLVING THE DEPLOYMENT OF DROPSONDES DURING THE CAMP2EX FIELD CAMPAIGN THE ANALYSIS OF THE DROPSONDE AND AIRCRAFT DATA COLLECTED DURING CAMP2EX AND THE SYNTHESIS OF THESE DATA INTO THE INITIALIZATION AND VALIDATION OF BOTH IDEALIZED AND CASE STUDY CLOUD-RESOLVING NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS. THESE DROPSONDE OBSERVATIONS AND NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS WILL PERMIT A DETAILED INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPACTS OF AEROSOL NUMBER CONCENTRATION AND AEROSOL TYPE OVER A RANGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ON THE MICROPHYSICS PRECIPITATION AND DYNAMICS OF CUMULUS AND CONGESTUS CLOUDS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL ENHANCE OUR SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF THESE COMPLEX AEROSOL-CLOUD-ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTIONS WHICH WILL PAVE THE WAY FOR IMPROVED REPRESENTATION OF THESE PROCESSES IN NUMERICAL WEATHER PREDICTION AND CLIMATE MODELS.