Recent years have seen increasing volume and diversity of observational data sets from ice sheets and ice shelves become available. Examples include airborne and ground-based radar sounding, seismic and gravity data, satellite altimetry and InSAR observations of the ice surface at increasing spatial and temporal resolutions, as well as targeted observations of smaller scale processes in the interior and at the base of the ice sheets. These data are needed to validate different aspects of the models and provide essential constraints for modelling the evolution of the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets. Models in turn are critical for identifying data requirements and locations for future targeted observations. 

This session aims to bring together modellers and observational scientists to discuss strategies to incorporate under-represented processes in numerical ice sheet models, identify areas where further observational constraints are needed, and model specifications required to incorporate available, but underutilized data sets. 

We welcome contributions that focus on data-model integration at any spatial and temporal scale, including present and past ice flow, and using observations pertaining to surface, englacial, and subglacial processes, as well as ice/ocean interactions.