http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/science/a-cloud-atlas-provides-clues-to-life-on-earth.html?nlid=1706953&src=recpb

Scientists combed through satellite photographs of cloud cover
taken twice a day for 15 years from nearly every square kilometer of Earth to
study the planet’s varied environments.

By creating cloud atlases, the researchers were able to better predict the
location of plants and animals on land with unprecedented spatial resolution,
allowing them to study certain species, including those that are often in remote
places.

http://www.earthenv.org/cloud.html