This is what you would be looking through in IR:
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/gms/large.ht...ent=2&mode=UTC
Yes, sometimes you get a dry spot passing over, which would allow you to observe strong IR emitters such as star forming regions in molecular clouds. Other times the image would be mud.
I have an IR modified DSLR, btw. It is limited to 700-950nm or so, as that is as high as the sensor can reach. I should do a wide angle milky way shot some time to see just what kind of problems we'd be dealing with by hooking it up to a telescope. A friend of mine back in Canada is working on IR sensor technology as part of his doctorate, so yes, the research, while lagging optical, is being done.
Regards,
Eric
Edit: On re-reading I see you were mentioning ultraviolet as well. This would limit you to observing more energetic objects, as these wavelengths are very heavily absorbed by the atmosphere.