File:Clear Skies over Southeast Asia (MODIS 2021-12-09).jpg

English: Clear skies permitted a gorgeous overhead view of Southeast Asia on December 7, 2021. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image as it passed over the region on that same day.

Clouds cover the coastline of Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin. At the top edge of the image, just a small bit of the city of Hanoi, Vietnam, can be seen under a light swath of haze. Moving westward from the Gulf of Tonkin, the countries seen are Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar (Burma). In the south, the muddy Mekong River winds through the center of Cambodia and across southern Vietnam.

West of the Mekong River, a swirl of sediment or algae floats on the water of Tonle Sap, Cambodia. Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. Moving further west is the Gulf of Thailand, then the narrow strip of land known as the Malay Peninsula separates the Gulf of Thailand from the Andaman Sea. Heavy sediment stains the Gulf of Martaban, which is the northernmost section of the Andaman Sea. The sediment pours into the Gulf of Martaban from the Salween River, which travels the length of eastern Myanmar.