Potential of millimeter and submillimeter wave satellite observations for hydrometeor studies The distribution of hydrometeors is highly variable in space and time since it is the result of a complex chain of processes with scales from microphysical (1e 6 m) to synoptical (1e3 m). It is a challenging task to observe these highly variable atmospheric constituents on a global scale with a temporal and spatial resolution sufficient for numerical weather prediction (NWP) and hydrological purposes. This study investigates the potential of the millimeter and submillimeter wavelength range on space borne sensors for hydrometeor and surface precipitation rate observations. The approach is based on simulations with cloud resolving models (CRMs) coupled to a radiative transfer (RT) model. The simulations are performed for mid latitude cases covering a broad band of precipitation events such as heavy convective and light stratiform winter precipitation. Realistic atmospheric conditions were simulated with two mesoscale CRMs: the Meso scale NonHydrostatic model (Meso NH) on a 10 km and the COSMO DE (COnsortium for Small scale MOdeling DEutschland) on a 2.8 km horizontal resolution. When calculating brightness temperatures for satellite observations with the one dimensional radiative transfer model MWMOD (MicroWave MODel) the detailed cloud microphysics and the three dimensional fields of temperature humidity and pressure of the CRMs are considered in the calculation of the interaction parameters ...