Cloud Imaging from Meteorological Satellites and its Application to Robotic Observing

Abstract

Satellite cloud imagery is a standard tool of meteorology, and also of ground-based observational astronomy. Fast access to cloud imagery through the Internet now permits more accurate prediction of local cloud cover than was formerly the case. This is particularly useful for automatic and remotely operated telescopes, where an observer may be at a considerable distance from the telescope itself. Since satellite imagery can now be accessed through the Internet with such ease, direct reception of radio transmissions from weather satellites may seem unnecessary. However, advances in computing power and radio receiver technology permit simple automated receipt of satellite transmissions, particularly from the NOAA series of low Earth orbit satellites. This has the advantage of more up-to-date, and higher resolution, cloud imagery than can be obtained from the Internet. We have operated such a satellite receiving station since 2003 April, and have found it particularly useful when remotely operating our telescopes at Siding Spring Observatory (SSO). By automatically publishing our cloud imagery onto the World Wide Web we have established a resource that is widely used by other local observatories and by the general public.