Lake Alakol in jap Kazakhstan is featured on this radar picture captured by Copernicus Sentinel-1.
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Though radar pictures are naturally black and white, the colors on this false-colour composite consequence from the mixture of three separate radar pictures, acquired a month aside in 2025. Every picture has been given a special color: blue for March, inexperienced for April and purple for Could. When the pictures are overlaid, the ensuing colors spotlight adjustments on the bottom between the acquisitions. Areas that seem gray or white depict little or no change.
Alakol means ‘multicoloured lake’ and on this picture it may be seen within the high left nook in various shades of blue and inexperienced relying on variations within the frozen floor through the acquisition interval. As this saltwater lake normally freezes for about two months on the finish of winter, and breaks up in early spring, it seems primarily blue as a result of, through the March acquisition, the floor was largely frozen.
There are two smaller, shallower lakes to the northwest of Alakol. The closest is Koshkarkol, and a part of Sasykkol, a freshwater lake, can be seen within the picture. The number of yellow, pink and magenta colors within the land surrounding the lakes denotes variations in vegetation between March and Could.
The Alakol–Sasykkol lake system is each a Ramsar Wetland of Worldwide Significance and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It is a vital migratory cease and nesting space for quite a lot of water birds, together with the Dalmatian Pelican and Larger Flamingo.
To the west of Alakol, we will see vibrant agricultural buildings in an alluvial fan. The triangular form is fashioned when water runoff from the Dzungarian Alatau mountains, seen under, reaches the plain and spreads out, forsaking fertile soil.
Lake Alakol is close to the border with China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Area, in an space formed by the Dzhungarian Gate. This pure valley varieties a mountain cross by means of the Dzungarian Alatau vary and connects central Asia to China.
The colorful characteristic seen south of Alakol is Aibi Lake, or Ebi Lake, the most important saltwater lake in northwest Xinjiang. It has shrunk dramatically through the years and the colourful colors within the northern a part of the basin present the place the soil has been uncovered through the acquisition interval.
West of the lake, the Bortala Valley is scattered with a patchwork of farms and settlements alongside the course of the Bortala River. The colors spotlight the assorted crop sorts and levels of development, whereas built-up areas seem shiny gray and white.
