Radar imagery and Doppler technology can be used to overcome some of the limitations posed by cloud cover. Bruce Davis highlighted the problem of getting the information needed instead of data wanted. He emphasized that every community should have baseline imagery to assess potential losses and to promote relief, recovery, and mitigation efforts. One of the key lessons NASA learned during Hurricane Andrew was that it is critical to select appropriate data and put it together to make informed decisions. Due to the lengthy process required to gather the data, Davis strongly suggested that communities not wait until a disaster happens to do so.
Imagery is an important aspect of a community's database.
The next generation of satellites such as Earthwatch's Early Birds and Astrovision will significantly enhance the remote sensing capabilities. Lou Walter pointed out that temporal resolution is a major problem in remote sensing. In disaster management applications, there is no problem with availability of data. Rather, the problem lies in the application and interpretation of data. Walter believes the science of remote sensing is not perfect and that the technical community is failing.