Lake Balkhash, Kazakhstan
Lake Balkhash in southeastern Kazakhstan forms a blue crescent across the center of this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) scene acquired on April 13, 2004, by the Terra satellite. The ice has melted off the lake except in its eastern tip, where gray-white chunks are still visible. A handful of fires, marked with red dots, have been detected, primarily in the agricultural regions that line the rivers. Their location and the time of year suggest that the fires were started to clear land for farming. Three rivers can be seen running into Lake Balkhash: the Ile in the east, the Qaratal in the center, and the Aksu in the west.
