Overview of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys

Lijuan Huang; Arjun Dey; David J. Schlegel; Dustin Lang; Robert Blum; Kaylan Burleigh; Xiaohui Fan; Joseph R. Findlay; Doug Finkbeiner; David Herrera; Stéphanie Juneau; Martin Landriau; Michael Levi; Ian McGreer; Aaron Meisner; Adam D. Myers; John Moustakas; Peter Nugent; Anna Patej; Edward F. Schlafly; Alistair R. Walker; Francisco Valdes; Benjamin A. Weaver; Christophe Yèche; Hu Zou; Xu Zhou; Behzad Abareshi; T. M.C. Abbott; Bela Abolfathi; C. Aguilera; Shadab Alam; Lori Allen; A. Alvarez; James Annis; Behzad Ansarinejad; Marie Aubert; Jacqueline Beechert; Eric F. Bell; Segev Y. Benzvi; Florian Beutler; Richard M. Bielby; Adam S. Bolton; César Briceño; Elizabeth J. Buckley-Geer; Karen Butler; Annalisa Calamida; Raymond G. Carlberg; Paul Carter; Ricard Casas; Francisco J. Castander; Yumi Choi; Johan Comparat; Elena Cukanovaite; Timothée Delubac; Kaitlin Devries; Sharmila Dey; Govinda Dhungana; Mark Dickinson; Zhejie Ding; John B. Donaldson; Yutong Duan; Christopher J. Duckworth; Sarah Eftekharzadeh; Daniel J. Eisenstein; Thomas Etourneau; Parker A. Fagrelius; Jay Farihi; Mike Fitzpatrick; Andreu Font-Ribera; Leah Fulmer; Boris T. Gänsicke; Enrique Gaztanaga; Koshy George; David W. Gerdes; Satya Gontcho A Gontcho; Claudio Gorgoni; Gregory Green; Julien Guy; Diane Harmer; M. Hernandez; Klaus Honscheid; Lijuan Wendy Huang; David J. James; Buell T. Jannuzi; Linhua Jiang; Richard Joyce; Armin Karcher; Sonia Karkar; Robert Kehoe; Jean Paul Kneib; Andrea Kueter-Young; Ting Wen Lan; Tod R. Lauer; Laurent Le Guillou; Auguste Le Van Suu; Jae Hyeon Lee; Michael Lesser; Laurence Perreault Levasseur; Ting S. Li; Justin L. Mann; Robert Marshall; C. E. Martínez-Vázquez; Paul Martini; Hélion Du Mas Des Bourboux; Sean McManus; Tobias Gabriel Meier; Brice Ménard; Nigel Metcalfe; Andrea Muñoz-Gutiérrez; Joan Najita; Kevin Napier; Gautham Narayan; Jeffrey A. Newman; Jundan Nie; Brian Nord; Dara J. Norman; Knut A.G. Olsen; Anthony Paat; Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille; Xiyan Peng; Claire L. Poppett; Megan R. Poremba; Abhishek Prakash; David Rabinowitz; Anand Raichoor; Mehdi Rezaie; A. N. Robertson; Natalie A. Roe; Ashley J. Ross; Nicholas P. Ross; Gregory Rudnick; Sasha Safonova; Abhijit Saha; F. Javier Sánchez; Elodie Savary; Heidi Schweiker; Adam Scott; Hee Jong Seo; Huanyuan Shan; David R. Silva; Zachary Slepian; Christian Soto; David Sprayberry; Ryan Staten; Coley M. Stillman; Robert J. Stupak; David L. Summers; Suk Sien Tie; H. Tirado; Mariana Vargas-Magaña; A. Katherina Vivas; Risa H. Wechsler; Doug Williams; Jinyi Yang; Qian Yang; Tolga Yapici; Dennis Zaritsky; A. Zenteno; Kai Zhang; Tianmeng Zhang; Rongpu Zhou; Zhimin Zhou

doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ab089d

Overview of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys

Lijuan Huang, Arjun Dey, David J. Schlegel, Dustin Lang, Robert Blum, Kaylan Burleigh, Xiaohui Fan, Joseph R. Findlay, Doug Finkbeiner, David Herrera, Stéphanie Juneau, Martin Landriau, Michael Levi, Ian McGreer, Aaron Meisner, Adam D. Myers, John Moustakas, Peter Nugent, Anna Patej, Edward F. SchlaflyAlistair R. Walker, Francisco Valdes, Benjamin A. Weaver, Christophe Yèche, Hu Zou, Xu Zhou, Behzad Abareshi, T. M.C. Abbott, Bela Abolfathi, C. Aguilera, Shadab Alam, Lori Allen, A. Alvarez, James Annis, Behzad Ansarinejad, Marie Aubert, Jacqueline Beechert, Eric F. Bell, Segev Y. Benzvi, Florian Beutler, Richard M. Bielby, Adam S. Bolton, César Briceño, Elizabeth J. Buckley-Geer, Karen Butler, Annalisa Calamida, Raymond G. Carlberg, Paul Carter, Ricard Casas, Francisco J. Castander, Yumi Choi, Johan Comparat, Elena Cukanovaite, Timothée Delubac, Kaitlin Devries, Sharmila Dey, Govinda Dhungana, Mark Dickinson, Zhejie Ding, John B. Donaldson, Yutong Duan, Christopher J. Duckworth, Sarah Eftekharzadeh, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Thomas Etourneau, Parker A. Fagrelius, Jay Farihi, Mike Fitzpatrick, Andreu Font-Ribera, Leah Fulmer, Boris T. Gänsicke, Enrique Gaztanaga, Koshy George, David W. Gerdes, Satya Gontcho A Gontcho, Claudio Gorgoni, Gregory Green, Julien Guy, Diane Harmer, M. Hernandez, Klaus Honscheid, Lijuan Wendy Huang, David J. James, Buell T. Jannuzi, Linhua Jiang, Richard Joyce, Armin Karcher, Sonia Karkar, Robert Kehoe, Jean Paul Kneib, Andrea Kueter-Young, Ting Wen Lan, Tod R. Lauer, Laurent Le Guillou, Auguste Le Van Suu, Jae Hyeon Lee, Michael Lesser, Laurence Perreault Levasseur, Ting S. Li, Justin L. Mann, Robert Marshall, C. E. Martínez-Vázquez, Paul Martini, Hélion Du Mas Des Bourboux, Sean McManus, Tobias Gabriel Meier, Brice Ménard, Nigel Metcalfe, Andrea Muñoz-Gutiérrez, Joan Najita, Kevin Napier, Gautham Narayan, Jeffrey A. Newman, Jundan Nie, Brian Nord, Dara J. Norman, Knut A.G. Olsen, Anthony Paat, Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille, Xiyan Peng, Claire L. Poppett, Megan R. Poremba, Abhishek Prakash, David Rabinowitz, Anand Raichoor, Mehdi Rezaie, A. N. Robertson, Natalie A. Roe, Ashley J. Ross, Nicholas P. Ross, Gregory Rudnick, Sasha Safonova, Abhijit Saha, F. Javier Sánchez, Elodie Savary, Heidi Schweiker, Adam Scott, Hee Jong Seo, Huanyuan Shan, David R. Silva, Zachary Slepian, Christian Soto, David Sprayberry, Ryan Staten, Coley M. Stillman, Robert J. Stupak, David L. Summers, Suk Sien Tie, H. Tirado, Mariana Vargas-Magaña, A. Katherina Vivas, Risa H. Wechsler, Doug Williams, Jinyi Yang, Qian Yang, Tolga Yapici, Dennis Zaritsky, A. Zenteno, Kai Zhang, Tianmeng Zhang, Rongpu Zhou, Zhimin Zhou

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

389 Scopus citations

Abstract

The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (http://legacysurvey.org/) are a combination of three public projects (the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey, the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey, and the Mayall z-band Legacy Survey) that will jointly image ≈14,000 deg² of the extragalactic sky visible from the northern hemisphere in three optical bands (g, r, and z) using telescopes at the Kitt Peak National Observatory and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The combined survey footprint is split into two contiguous areas by the Galactic plane. The optical imaging is conducted using a unique strategy of dynamically adjusting the exposure times and pointing selection during observing that results in a survey of nearly uniform depth. In addition to calibrated images, the project is delivering a catalog, constructed by using a probabilistic inference-based approach to estimate source shapes and brightnesses. The catalog includes photometry from the grz optical bands and from four mid-infrared bands (at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm) observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer satellite during its full operational lifetime. The project plans two public data releases each year. All the software used to generate the catalogs is also released with the data. This paper provides an overview of the Legacy Surveys project.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	168
Journal	Astronomical Journal
Volume	157
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ab089d
State	Published - May 2019

Keywords

catalogs
surveys

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

Access to Document

10.3847/1538-3881/ab089d

Cite this

Huang, L., Dey, A., Schlegel, D. J., Lang, D., Blum, R., Burleigh, K., Fan, X., Findlay, J. R., Finkbeiner, D., Herrera, D., Juneau, S., Landriau, M., Levi, M., McGreer, I., Meisner, A., Myers, A. D., Moustakas, J., Nugent, P., Patej, A., ... Zhou, Z. (2019). Overview of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys. Astronomical Journal, 157(5), Article 168. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ab089d

Huang, L, Dey, A, Schlegel, DJ, Lang, D, Blum, R, Burleigh, K, Fan, X, Findlay, JR, Finkbeiner, D, Herrera, D, Juneau, S, Landriau, M, Levi, M, McGreer, I, Meisner, A, Myers, AD, Moustakas, J, Nugent, P, Patej, A, Schlafly, EF, Walker, AR, Valdes, F, Weaver, BA, Yèche, C, Zou, H, Zhou, X, Abareshi, B, Abbott, TMC, Abolfathi, B, Aguilera, C, Alam, S, Allen, L, Alvarez, A, Annis, J, Ansarinejad, B, Aubert, M, Beechert, J, Bell, EF, Benzvi, SY, Beutler, F, Bielby, RM, Bolton, AS, Briceño, C, Buckley-Geer, EJ, Butler, K, Calamida, A, Carlberg, RG, Carter, P, Casas, R, Castander, FJ, Choi, Y, Comparat, J, Cukanovaite, E, Delubac, T, Devries, K, Dey, S, Dhungana, G, Dickinson, M, Ding, Z, Donaldson, JB, Duan, Y, Duckworth, CJ, Eftekharzadeh, S, Eisenstein, DJ, Etourneau, T, Fagrelius, PA, Farihi, J, Fitzpatrick, M, Font-Ribera, A, Fulmer, L, Gänsicke, BT, Gaztanaga, E, George, K, Gerdes, DW, A Gontcho, SG, Gorgoni, C, Green, G, Guy, J, Harmer, D, Hernandez, M, Honscheid, K, Huang, LW, James, DJ, Jannuzi, BT, Jiang, L, Joyce, R, Karcher, A, Karkar, S, Kehoe, R, Kneib, JP, Kueter-Young, A, Lan, TW, Lauer, TR, Guillou, LL, Van Suu, AL, Lee, JH, Lesser, M, Levasseur, LP, Li, TS, Mann, JL, Marshall, R, Martínez-Vázquez, CE, Martini, P, Du Mas Des Bourboux, H, McManus, S, Meier, TG, Ménard, B, Metcalfe, N, Muñoz-Gutiérrez, A, Najita, J, Napier, K, Narayan, G, Newman, JA, Nie, J, Nord, B, Norman, DJ, Olsen, KAG, Paat, A, Palanque-Delabrouille, N, Peng, X, Poppett, CL, Poremba, MR, Prakash, A, Rabinowitz, D, Raichoor, A, Rezaie, M, Robertson, AN, Roe, NA, Ross, AJ, Ross, NP, Rudnick, G, Safonova, S, Saha, A, Sánchez, FJ, Savary, E, Schweiker, H, Scott, A, Seo, HJ, Shan, H, Silva, DR, Slepian, Z, Soto, C, Sprayberry, D, Staten, R, Stillman, CM, Stupak, RJ, Summers, DL, Tie, SS, Tirado, H, Vargas-Magaña, M, Vivas, AK, Wechsler, RH, Williams, D, Yang, J, Yang, Q, Yapici, T, Zaritsky, D, Zenteno, A, Zhang, K, Zhang, T, Zhou, R & Zhou, Z 2019, 'Overview of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys', Astronomical Journal, vol. 157, no. 5, 168. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ab089d

@article{e1732e4f8689401989b0c02521c17ccc,

title = "Overview of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys",

abstract = "The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (http://legacysurvey.org/) are a combination of three public projects (the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey, the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey, and the Mayall z-band Legacy Survey) that will jointly image ≈14,000 deg2 of the extragalactic sky visible from the northern hemisphere in three optical bands (g, r, and z) using telescopes at the Kitt Peak National Observatory and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The combined survey footprint is split into two contiguous areas by the Galactic plane. The optical imaging is conducted using a unique strategy of dynamically adjusting the exposure times and pointing selection during observing that results in a survey of nearly uniform depth. In addition to calibrated images, the project is delivering a catalog, constructed by using a probabilistic inference-based approach to estimate source shapes and brightnesses. The catalog includes photometry from the grz optical bands and from four mid-infrared bands (at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm) observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer satellite during its full operational lifetime. The project plans two public data releases each year. All the software used to generate the catalogs is also released with the data. This paper provides an overview of the Legacy Surveys project.",

keywords = "catalogs, surveys",

author = "Lijuan Huang and Arjun Dey and Schlegel, {David J.} and Dustin Lang and Robert Blum and Kaylan Burleigh and Xiaohui Fan and Findlay, {Joseph R.} and Doug Finkbeiner and David Herrera and St{\'e}phanie Juneau and Martin Landriau and Michael Levi and Ian McGreer and Aaron Meisner and Myers, {Adam D.} and John Moustakas and Peter Nugent and Anna Patej and Schlafly, {Edward F.} and Walker, {Alistair R.} and Francisco Valdes and Weaver, {Benjamin A.} and Christophe Y{\`e}che and Hu Zou and Xu Zhou and Behzad Abareshi and Abbott, {T. M.C.} and Bela Abolfathi and C. Aguilera and Shadab Alam and Lori Allen and A. Alvarez and James Annis and Behzad Ansarinejad and Marie Aubert and Jacqueline Beechert and Bell, {Eric F.} and Benzvi, {Segev Y.} and Florian Beutler and Bielby, {Richard M.} and Bolton, {Adam S.} and C{\'e}sar Brice{\~n}o and Buckley-Geer, {Elizabeth J.} and Karen Butler and Annalisa Calamida and Carlberg, {Raymond G.} and Paul Carter and Ricard Casas and Castander, {Francisco J.} and Yumi Choi and Johan Comparat and Elena Cukanovaite and Timoth{\'e}e Delubac and Kaitlin Devries and Sharmila Dey and Govinda Dhungana and Mark Dickinson and Zhejie Ding and Donaldson, {John B.} and Yutong Duan and Duckworth, {Christopher J.} and Sarah Eftekharzadeh and Eisenstein, {Daniel J.} and Thomas Etourneau and Fagrelius, {Parker A.} and Jay Farihi and Mike Fitzpatrick and Andreu Font-Ribera and Leah Fulmer and G{\"a}nsicke, {Boris T.} and Enrique Gaztanaga and Koshy George and Gerdes, {David W.} and {A Gontcho}, {Satya Gontcho} and Claudio Gorgoni and Gregory Green and Julien Guy and Diane Harmer and M. Hernandez and Klaus Honscheid and Huang, {Lijuan Wendy} and James, {David J.} and Jannuzi, {Buell T.} and Linhua Jiang and Richard Joyce and Armin Karcher and Sonia Karkar and Robert Kehoe and Kneib, {Jean Paul} and Andrea Kueter-Young and Lan, {Ting Wen} and Lauer, {Tod R.} and Guillou, {Laurent Le} and {Van Suu}, {Auguste Le} and Lee, {Jae Hyeon} and Michael Lesser and Levasseur, {Laurence Perreault} and Li, {Ting S.} and Mann, {Justin L.} and Robert Marshall and Mart{\'i}nez-V{\'a}zquez, {C. E.} and Paul Martini and {Du Mas Des Bourboux}, H{\'e}lion and Sean McManus and Meier, {Tobias Gabriel} and Brice M{\'e}nard and Nigel Metcalfe and Andrea Mu{\~n}oz-Guti{\'e}rrez and Joan Najita and Kevin Napier and Gautham Narayan and Newman, {Jeffrey A.} and Jundan Nie and Brian Nord and Norman, {Dara J.} and Olsen, {Knut A.G.} and Anthony Paat and Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille and Xiyan Peng and Poppett, {Claire L.} and Poremba, {Megan R.} and Abhishek Prakash and David Rabinowitz and Anand Raichoor and Mehdi Rezaie and Robertson, {A. N.} and Roe, {Natalie A.} and Ross, {Ashley J.} and Ross, {Nicholas P.} and Gregory Rudnick and Sasha Safonova and Abhijit Saha and S{\'a}nchez, {F. Javier} and Elodie Savary and Heidi Schweiker and Adam Scott and Seo, {Hee Jong} and Huanyuan Shan and Silva, {David R.} and Zachary Slepian and Christian Soto and David Sprayberry and Ryan Staten and Stillman, {Coley M.} and Stupak, {Robert J.} and Summers, {David L.} and Tie, {Suk Sien} and H. Tirado and Mariana Vargas-Maga{\~n}a and Vivas, {A. Katherina} and Wechsler, {Risa H.} and Doug Williams and Jinyi Yang and Qian Yang and Tolga Yapici and Dennis Zaritsky and A. Zenteno and Kai Zhang and Tianmeng Zhang and Rongpu Zhou and Zhimin Zhou",

year = "2019",

month = may,

doi = "10.3847/1538-3881/ab089d",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "157",

journal = "Astronomical Journal",

issn = "0004-6256",

publisher = "IOP Publishing Ltd.",

number = "5",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Overview of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys

AU - Huang, Lijuan

AU - Dey, Arjun

AU - Schlegel, David J.

AU - Lang, Dustin

AU - Blum, Robert

AU - Burleigh, Kaylan

AU - Fan, Xiaohui

AU - Findlay, Joseph R.

AU - Finkbeiner, Doug

AU - Herrera, David

AU - Juneau, Stéphanie

AU - Landriau, Martin

AU - Levi, Michael

AU - McGreer, Ian

AU - Meisner, Aaron

AU - Myers, Adam D.

AU - Moustakas, John

AU - Nugent, Peter

AU - Patej, Anna

AU - Schlafly, Edward F.

AU - Walker, Alistair R.

AU - Valdes, Francisco

AU - Weaver, Benjamin A.

AU - Yèche, Christophe

AU - Zou, Hu

AU - Zhou, Xu

AU - Abareshi, Behzad

AU - Abbott, T. M.C.

AU - Abolfathi, Bela

AU - Aguilera, C.

AU - Alam, Shadab

AU - Allen, Lori

AU - Alvarez, A.

AU - Annis, James

AU - Ansarinejad, Behzad

AU - Aubert, Marie

AU - Beechert, Jacqueline

AU - Bell, Eric F.

AU - Benzvi, Segev Y.

AU - Beutler, Florian

AU - Bielby, Richard M.

AU - Bolton, Adam S.

AU - Briceño, César

AU - Buckley-Geer, Elizabeth J.

AU - Butler, Karen

AU - Calamida, Annalisa

AU - Carlberg, Raymond G.

AU - Carter, Paul

AU - Casas, Ricard

AU - Castander, Francisco J.

AU - Choi, Yumi

AU - Comparat, Johan

AU - Cukanovaite, Elena

AU - Delubac, Timothée

AU - Devries, Kaitlin

AU - Dey, Sharmila

AU - Dhungana, Govinda

AU - Dickinson, Mark

AU - Ding, Zhejie

AU - Donaldson, John B.

AU - Duan, Yutong

AU - Duckworth, Christopher J.

AU - Eftekharzadeh, Sarah

AU - Eisenstein, Daniel J.

AU - Etourneau, Thomas

AU - Fagrelius, Parker A.

AU - Farihi, Jay

AU - Fitzpatrick, Mike

AU - Font-Ribera, Andreu

AU - Fulmer, Leah

AU - Gänsicke, Boris T.

AU - Gaztanaga, Enrique

AU - George, Koshy

AU - Gerdes, David W.

AU - A Gontcho, Satya Gontcho

AU - Gorgoni, Claudio

AU - Green, Gregory

AU - Guy, Julien

AU - Harmer, Diane

AU - Hernandez, M.

AU - Honscheid, Klaus

AU - Huang, Lijuan Wendy

AU - James, David J.

AU - Jannuzi, Buell T.

AU - Jiang, Linhua

AU - Joyce, Richard

AU - Karcher, Armin

AU - Karkar, Sonia

AU - Kehoe, Robert

AU - Kneib, Jean Paul

AU - Kueter-Young, Andrea

AU - Lan, Ting Wen

AU - Lauer, Tod R.

AU - Guillou, Laurent Le

AU - Van Suu, Auguste Le

AU - Lee, Jae Hyeon

AU - Lesser, Michael

AU - Levasseur, Laurence Perreault

AU - Li, Ting S.

AU - Mann, Justin L.

AU - Marshall, Robert

AU - Martínez-Vázquez, C. E.

AU - Martini, Paul

AU - Du Mas Des Bourboux, Hélion

AU - McManus, Sean

AU - Meier, Tobias Gabriel

AU - Ménard, Brice

AU - Metcalfe, Nigel

AU - Muñoz-Gutiérrez, Andrea

AU - Najita, Joan

AU - Napier, Kevin

AU - Narayan, Gautham

AU - Newman, Jeffrey A.

AU - Nie, Jundan

AU - Nord, Brian

AU - Norman, Dara J.

AU - Olsen, Knut A.G.

AU - Paat, Anthony

AU - Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie

AU - Peng, Xiyan

AU - Poppett, Claire L.

AU - Poremba, Megan R.

AU - Prakash, Abhishek

AU - Rabinowitz, David

AU - Raichoor, Anand

AU - Rezaie, Mehdi

AU - Robertson, A. N.

AU - Roe, Natalie A.

AU - Ross, Ashley J.

AU - Ross, Nicholas P.

AU - Rudnick, Gregory

AU - Safonova, Sasha

AU - Saha, Abhijit

AU - Sánchez, F. Javier

AU - Savary, Elodie

AU - Schweiker, Heidi

AU - Scott, Adam

AU - Seo, Hee Jong

AU - Shan, Huanyuan

AU - Silva, David R.

AU - Slepian, Zachary

AU - Soto, Christian

AU - Sprayberry, David

AU - Staten, Ryan

AU - Stillman, Coley M.

AU - Stupak, Robert J.

AU - Summers, David L.

AU - Tie, Suk Sien

AU - Tirado, H.

AU - Vargas-Magaña, Mariana

AU - Vivas, A. Katherina

AU - Wechsler, Risa H.

AU - Williams, Doug

AU - Yang, Jinyi

AU - Yang, Qian

AU - Yapici, Tolga

AU - Zaritsky, Dennis

AU - Zenteno, A.

AU - Zhang, Kai

AU - Zhang, Tianmeng

AU - Zhou, Rongpu

AU - Zhou, Zhimin

PY - 2019/5

Y1 - 2019/5

N2 - The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (http://legacysurvey.org/) are a combination of three public projects (the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey, the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey, and the Mayall z-band Legacy Survey) that will jointly image ≈14,000 deg2 of the extragalactic sky visible from the northern hemisphere in three optical bands (g, r, and z) using telescopes at the Kitt Peak National Observatory and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The combined survey footprint is split into two contiguous areas by the Galactic plane. The optical imaging is conducted using a unique strategy of dynamically adjusting the exposure times and pointing selection during observing that results in a survey of nearly uniform depth. In addition to calibrated images, the project is delivering a catalog, constructed by using a probabilistic inference-based approach to estimate source shapes and brightnesses. The catalog includes photometry from the grz optical bands and from four mid-infrared bands (at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm) observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer satellite during its full operational lifetime. The project plans two public data releases each year. All the software used to generate the catalogs is also released with the data. This paper provides an overview of the Legacy Surveys project.

AB - The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (http://legacysurvey.org/) are a combination of three public projects (the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey, the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey, and the Mayall z-band Legacy Survey) that will jointly image ≈14,000 deg2 of the extragalactic sky visible from the northern hemisphere in three optical bands (g, r, and z) using telescopes at the Kitt Peak National Observatory and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The combined survey footprint is split into two contiguous areas by the Galactic plane. The optical imaging is conducted using a unique strategy of dynamically adjusting the exposure times and pointing selection during observing that results in a survey of nearly uniform depth. In addition to calibrated images, the project is delivering a catalog, constructed by using a probabilistic inference-based approach to estimate source shapes and brightnesses. The catalog includes photometry from the grz optical bands and from four mid-infrared bands (at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm) observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer satellite during its full operational lifetime. The project plans two public data releases each year. All the software used to generate the catalogs is also released with the data. This paper provides an overview of the Legacy Surveys project.

KW - catalogs

KW - surveys

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85067358591&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85067358591&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3847/1538-3881/ab089d

DO - 10.3847/1538-3881/ab089d

M3 - Review article

SN - 0004-6256

VL - 157

JO - Astronomical Journal

JF - Astronomical Journal

IS - 5

M1 - 168

ER -

Overview of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys

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