Midday cloud cover due to the tropical air surrounding Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands often obscures the land surface of the region to sensors on polar-orbiting spacecraft.

But favorable winds on April 16, 2009, provided mainly cloud-free skies for when NASA’s Terra satellite passed overhead at 10:45 a.m. local time.

Clearly visible is the large, main island of Puerto Rico as well as two smaller islands of the US. commonwealth just to the right.

Farther east are the three main islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands, which has been an American territory since being purchased from Denmark in 1917.

St. Croix is the largest and southernmost of the three principal islands of the territory. Its terrain and alignment with the trade winds create a dramatic shift in climate within just a few miles.

The northwestern part of the island is heavily wooded with elements of rain forest, while the eastern tip has a far more arid landscape, dotted with cactus.

St. Thomas is the economic and political capital of the territory, while St. John is renowned as the wealthiest and most expensive of the islands.

The U.S. Virgin Islands is the only place under U.S. jurisdiction where the rule of the road is to drive on the left. This was inherited from the Danish practice at the time of the American purchase in 1917. But since most cars are now imported from the U.S. mainland, the steering column is located on the left side of the vast majority of vehicles on the road today.

Image: NASA MODIS Rapid Response System