Clouds are highly variable and exhibit a wide range of spatial extents and lifetime scales. The cloud cover must be continuously observed by some method to determine its nature and, when needed, for various applications. Clouds may be detected in a number of ways. Radar and laser reflection, attenuation of starlight and infrared emission are all techniques which have been employed in the past. The University of Adelaide has developed a simple Infrared cloud monitors for cloud detection. Those monitors were developed different and have a spectral response extended from 5.5 µm to above 20 µm centered on a wavelength of 10 µm. They were operating in vertical and scanning modes.
Here, we discuss some of the results obtained from the 3o FOV detector at the City of Adelaide, an urban site with a mid-latitude Mediterranean climate.