Sastrugi Sastrugi Sastrugi, or zastrugi, are sharp irregular grooves or ridges formed on a snow surface by wind erosion, saltation of snow particles, and deposition, and found in polar and open sites such as frozen lakes in cold temperate regions. The ridges are usually perpendicular to the prevailing winds; they are steep on the windward side and sloping to the leeward side. Smaller irregularities of this type are known as ripples (small, ~10 mm high) or wind ridges. Larger features are especially troublesome to skiers and snowboarders. Traveling on the irregular surface of sastrugi can be very tiring, and can risk
Surface wave inversion Rayleigh waves and Love waves. Rayleigh waves travel in a longitudinal manner (the wave motion is parallel to the direction of wave propagation) with particle motion in a retrograde elliptical motion (Figure 1). The Rayleigh waves result from the interaction between P-waves and vertically polarized S-waves. Conversely, Love waves travel in a traverse manner (Figure 1) (the wave motion is perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation), consisting of horizontally polarized S-waves. In seismology, surface waves are collected along with other seismic data, but are traditionally considered noise and an impedance in interpreting deeper reflection and refraction information. Seismologists usually