Seeking Help with GOES IR Imagery
M.J. Post
I am a retired NOAA scientist from Boulder, and an avid amateur astronomer. I operate two remote telescopes in deep SW New Mexico, at the Dark Sky New Mexico (DSNM) facility near Animas. Several of my colleagues and I are wanting to establish a new remote observing facility near either Datl, NM or Carrizozo, NM, both with Bortle 1 skies and better seeing conditions than DSNM.
I personally use the GOES East Band 16 channel every night I image, for understanding cloudiness. Its online, real-time animations let me know whether skies are cloud-free or not, and what to expect from upstream (if anything).
In order to decide where to establish a new observatory, we'd like to know the climatology of nighttime cloudiness for Datl and Carrizozo vs. Animas, for all months of the year. Historical records of GOES East Band 16 (ICCP H-Series CDR) surely contain the data we need. How do I access the "clearsky" variable for about 10 pixels and three 3-hour nighttime periods for the entire timespan of the CDR, for the three sites of interest? I've read a good portion of the "Algorithm" section on the ISCCP H-Series home page and my head is swimming!