Identify clear sky pixels using global cloud mask*

Upward propagating atmospheric gravity waves (GWs) originating from various lower atmosphere sources can transport energy and momentum into the Earth's upper atmosphere. In the ionosphere, GWs produce traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs), generate electric fields, and appear to contribute to seeding of equatorial plasma bubbles that have detrimental effects on navigation, communication and surveillance systems. Despite their importance and decades of research there are still many open questions regarding the morphology and dynamics of gravity waves. The recently launched NASA Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) mission images GWs near 87 km altitude. This instrument measures the intensity of several hydroxyl (OH) emission lines over a large field-of-view (90° or 600 km). To better understand the relations between the emission lines, analysis is performed by using only pixels for clear sky over oceans. Clear sky pixels are isolated by employing a global cloud mask for each orbit, which is generated by combining cloud index data from three geosynchronous satellites (GOES, EUMETSAT, and HIMAWARI). This will allow for the study of the global distribution of atmospheric GWs and investigation of their temporal/seasonal evolution