Satellites provide the primary dataset for monitoring the earth system and constraining analyses in numerical models. A challenge for utilizing satellite radiances is the estimation of their biases. High-accuracy non-radiance data are typically employed to anchor radiance bias corrections. This study provides the first assessment of impacts of dropsonde data collected during the Atmospheric River (AR) Reconnaissance program that samples ARs over the Northeast Pacific on the radiance assimilation using the Global Forecast System (GFS) and the Global Data Assimilation System. Including this dropsonde dataset has provided better anchoring for bias corrections and improved model background, leading to an increase of ~5-10% in the amount of assimilated microwave radiance in the lower/middle troposphere over the Northeast Pacific and North America. The impact on tropospheric infrared radiance is small but also beneficial. This result points to the usefulness of dropsondes, along with other conventional data, in the assimilation of satellite radiance.