the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
| 09 Mar 2026
Inversion of ground ice content using coupled multi-source electromagnetic parameters in the source region of the Yellow River on the Tibetan Plateau
Abstract. Ground ice content plays a key role in controlling permafrost stability in the source region of the Yellow River, yet its quantitative characterization is limited by strong subsurface heterogeneity and scarce direct observations. This study integrated ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and opposing coils transient electromagnetic (OCTEM) data within a joint inversion framework based on full-waveform inversion (FWI) to estimate volumetric ice content (VIC) at four high-altitude permafrost sites. The results showed strong lateral and vertical variability in VIC, with distinct VIC magnitudes and depth-dependent patterns among sites. Shallow VIC derived from radar-based dielectric properties provided physical constraints for estimating deeper VIC through a calibrated relationship between relative permittivity and apparent resistivity. Ice-rich and ice-poor zones were spatially consistent with apparent resistivity sections and forward-modeled electromagnetic responses, supporting the reliability of the integrated approach. Estimated VIC at depths from 2 to 10 m was relatively low at Huashixia, at approximately 8–15 %, but generally exceeded 20 % at Hela, Shuangchagou, and Maduo. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of a physically constrained electromagnetic strategy for quantifying VIC in alpine permafrost.
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- RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2026-828', Vincenzo Lapenna, 10 Aug 2026 reply
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The topic and study area of this work are very interesting and fit the scope of the journal. There is a growing interest in the geophysical monitoring of permafrost, so papers on this topic are welcome and must be encouraged.
However, I must point out several critical issues with the manuscript. The authors claim to have used geophysical inversion to obtain the ground ice content at four sites, but the methodological approach to the claimed data inversion is unclear. They used apparent resistivity values obtained using an electromagnetic method to evaluate the relative permittivity in a purely qualitative way without any serious experimental or objective constraints. The processing of the GPR data is completely unclear.
There is no mention of the novelty of the methodological approach or of any serious validation of the results. It is impossible to evaluate the quality of the results or the advantages of the proposed approach over other methods.
Furthermore, the figure captions are not fully informative, making it difficult to evaluate the quality of the results. Equations 1 and 2 are unnecessary and scholastic.
Based on these considerations, I cannot recommend publishing this paper. I can only recommend completely reorganising the paper, reducing the claims about inversion and providing a thorough description of the results. After a complete reorganization, I suggest resubmitting the manuscript.