Specific to tropical environments such as of the Caribbean region, a persistent
cloud cover adds another hindrance to the use of satellite images (Al-Tahir et al.,
2006).
Valuable data are lost due to the clouds by directly obstruction the surface
beneath them, and by the shadows they cast.
These areas of obstruction
represent information gaps and.
As such, cloud cover poses a major challenge to
the use of optical wavelength satellite images despite their worldwide successful
use for mapping and monitoring.