File:Lake Balkhash (MODIS 2019-04-09).jpg

English: Lake Balkhash spans about 17,000 square kilometers (6,564 sq. mi) in southeast Kazakhstan. The beautiful, crescent-shaped lake is the largest lake in Central Asia and the fifteenth largest in the world. Covered by ice for several months each year, the lengthening days of April bring warmth and sunlight that encourages the break-up of winter’s icy blanket. On April 8, 2019, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of Lake Balkhash. While the eastern half of the lake remains largely ice-covered, much of the western section, especially at the inflow of the Ili River, has become ice free. The murky, aqua-and-white appearance of the water in the western end is likely caused by suspended sediment that is carried in by the Ili River or churned up by the wind and waves in the shallow basin.