PremEx, a few comments on your post:

1. Yes, I am referring to the lower mile, saver, capacity-controlled awards.

2. No, not necessarily current availability. I was thinking about availability in general.

You are correct that award availability changes day to day. My thoughts were along the lines of a "little" project conducted over a period of time, preferrably up to a year in duration. Each day assessing award availability on select, key routes to determine which airline programs have award seats available and how many. Contrary to your assertion that any information from the on-line systems wouldn't mean a thing, I believe a project of this type would have enormous value. It would go a long way towards supporting/refuting claims made by various people and the airlines themselves about award seat availability. My guess is it would also shed light on when certain airlines make additional seats available and how far in advance you need to book certain routes to ensure award seating. rcowen's site and the study performed on NW award seat availability is right in line with what I am thinking.

The purpose of my post is to look for suggestions on how best to approach such a study in order to maximize value and limit time investment. Then perhaps we can enlist support to carry out something like this.