Mapping the Galaxy Color-Redshift Relation: Optimal Photometric Redshift Calibration Strategies for Cosmology Surveys

Calibrating the photometric redshifts of >10^9 galaxies for upcoming weak lensing cosmology experiments is a major challenge for the astrophysics community. The path to obtaining the required spectroscopic redshifts for training and calibration is daunting, given the anticipated depths of the surveys and the difficulty in obtaining secure redshifts for some faint galaxy populations. Here we present an analysis of the problem based on the self-organizing map, a method of mapping the distribution of data in a high-dimensional space and projecting it onto a lower-dimensional representation. We apply this method to existing photometric data from the COSMOS survey selected to approximate the anticipated Euclid weak lensing sample, enabling us to robustly map the empirical distribution of galaxies in the multidimensional color space defined by the expected Euclid filters. Mapping this multicolor distribution lets us determine where - in galaxy color space - redshifts from current spectroscopic surveys exist and where they are systematically missing. Crucially, the method lets us determine whether a spectroscopic training sample is representative of the full photometric space occupied by the galaxies in a survey. We explore optimal sampling techniques and estimate the additional spectroscopy needed to map out the color-redshift relation, finding that sampling the galaxy distribution in color space in a systematic way can efficiently meet the calibration requirements. While the analysis presented here focuses on the Euclid survey, similar analysis can be applied to other surveys facing the same calibration challenge, such as DES, LSST, and WFIRST.Comment: ApJ accepted, 17 pages, 10 figure

Robust Intrinsic and Extrinsic Calibration of RGB-D Cameras

Color-depth cameras (RGB-D cameras) have become the primary sensors in most robotics systems, from service robotics to industrial robotics applications. Typical consumer-grade RGB-D cameras are provided with a coarse intrinsic and extrinsic calibration that generally does not meet the accuracy requirements needed by many robotics applications (e.g., highly accurate 3D environment reconstruction and mapping, high precision object recognition and localization, ...). In this paper, we propose a human-friendly, reliable and accurate calibration framework that enables to easily estimate both the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of a general color-depth sensor couple. Our approach is based on a novel two components error model. This model unifies the error sources of RGB-D pairs based on different technologies, such as structured-light 3D cameras and time-of-flight cameras. Our method provides some important advantages compared to other state-of-the-art systems: it is general (i.e., well suited for different types of sensors), based on an easy and stable calibration protocol, provides a greater calibration accuracy, and has been implemented within the ROS robotics framework. We report detailed experimental validations and performance comparisons to support our statements

Radiometric responsivity determination for Feature Identification and Location Experiment (FILE) flown on space shuttle mission

A procedure was developed to obtain the radiometric (radiance) responsivity of the Feature Identification and Local Experiment (FILE) instrument in preparation for its flight on Space Shuttle Mission 41-G (November 1984). This instrument was designed to obtain Earth feature radiance data in spectral bands centered at 0.65 and 0.85 microns, along with corroborative color and color-infrared photographs, and to collect data to evaluate a technique for in-orbit autonomous classification of the Earth's primary features. The calibration process incorporated both solar radiance measurements and radiative transfer model predictions in estimating expected radiance inputs to the FILE on the Shuttle. The measured data are compared with the model predictions, and the differences observed are discussed. Application of the calibration procedure to the FILE over an 18-month period indicated a constant responsivity characteristic. This report documents the calibration procedure and the associated radiometric measurements and predictions that were part of the instrument preparation for flight

Stellar color regression: a spectroscopy based method for color calibration to a few mmag accuracy and the recalibration of Stripe 82

In this paper, we propose a spectroscopy based Stellar Color Regression (SCR) method to perform accurate color calibration for modern imaging surveys, taking advantage of millions of stellar spectra now available. The method is straightforward, insensitive to systematic errors in the spectroscopically determined stellar atmospheric parameters, applicable to regions that are effectively covered by spectroscopic surveys, and capable of delivering an accuracy of a few millimagnitudes for color calibration. As an illustration, we have applied the method to the SDSS Stripe 82 data (Ivezic et al; I07 hereafter). With a total number of 23,759 spectroscopically targeted stars, we have mapped out the small but strongly correlated color zero point errors present in the photometric catalog of Stripe 82, and improve the color calibration by a factor of 2 -- 3. Our study also reveals some small but significant magnitude dependence errors in z-band for some CCDs. Such errors are likely to be present in all the SDSS photometric data. Our results are compared with those from a completely independent test based on the intrinsic colors of red galaxies presented by I07. The comparison as well as other tests shows that the SCR method has achieved a color calibration internally consistent at a level of about 5 mmag in u-g, 3 mmag in g-r, and 2 mmag in r-i and i-z, respectively. Given the power of the SCR method, we discuss briefly the potential benefits by applying the method to existing, on-going, and up-coming imaging surveys.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables, ApJ in pres

IRFM T_eff calibrations for cluster and field giants in the Vilnius, Geneva, RI(C) and DDO photometric systems

Based on a large sample of disk and halo giant stars, for which accurate effective temperatures derived through the InfraRed Flux Method (IRFM) exist, a calibration of the temperature scale in the Vilnius, Geneva, RI(C) and DDO photometric systems is performed. We provide calibration formulae for the metallicity dependent T_eff vs color relations as well as grids of intrinsic colors and compare them with other calibrations. Photometry, atmospheric parameters and reddening corrections for the stars of the sample have been updated with respect to the original sources in order to reduce the dispersion of the fits. Application of our results to Arcturus leads to an effective temperature in excellent agreement with the value derived from its angular diameter and integrated flux. The effects of gravity on these T_eff vs color relations are also explored by taking into account our previous results for dwarf stars.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

An empirical temperature calibration for the Delta a photometric system. II. The A-type and mid F-type star

With the Delta a photometric system, it is possible to study very distant galactic and even extragalactic clusters with a high level of accuracy. This can be done with a classical color-magnitude diagram and appropriate isochrones. The new calibration presented in this paper is a powerful extension. For open clusters, the reddening is straightforward for an estimation via Isochrone fitting and is needed in order to calculate the reddening-free, temperature sensitive, index (g1-y)0. As a last step, the calibration can be applied to individual stars. Because no a-priori reddening-free photometric parameters are available for the investigated spectral range, we have applied the dereddening calibrations of the Stromgren uvbybeta system and compared them with extinction models for the Milky Way. As expected from the sample of bright stars, the extinction is negligible for almost all objects. As a next step, already established calibrations within the Stromgren uvbybeta, Geneva 7-color, and Johnson UBV systems were applied to a sample of 282 normal stars to derive a polynomial fit of the third degree for the averaged effective temperatures to the individual (g1-y)0 values with a mean of the error for the whole sample of Delta T(eff) is 134K, which is lower than the value in Paper I for hotter stars. No statistically significant effect of the rotational velocity on the precision of the calibration was found.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted by A&

Gravimetric maps of the Central African Republic

Gravimetric maps of the Central African Republic are described including a map of Bouguer anomalies at 1/1,000,000 in two sections (eastern sheet, western sheet) and a map, in color, of Bouguer anomalies at 1/2,000,000. Instrumentation, data acquisition, calibration, and data correction procedures are discussed