The physical surface of certain sensors like cameras and LiDAR are literally the top of the data funnel. When this funnel is blocked by challenging environmental conditions like bugs, mud, snow, freezing rain, salt, road tar or dirt, data input is reduced or completely disabled. Current R&D efforts on autonomous driving systems are primarily limited to near-ideal climates where vehicles are not only geofenced but also “envirofenced” to avoid the funnel blockage that happens when hardware perception surfaces are occluded.