Within the next five years, a number of direct-imaging planet search
instruments, like the VLT SPHERE instrument, will be coming online. To
successfully carry out their programs, these instruments will rely heavily on
a-priori information on planet composition, atmosphere, and evolution.
Transiting planet surveys, while covering a different semi-major axis regime,
have the potential to provide critical foundations for these next-generation
surveys. For example, improved information on planetary evolutionary tracks may
significantly impact the insights that can be drawn from direct-imaging
statistical data. Other high-impact results from transiting planet science
include information on mass-to-radius relationships as well as atmospheric
absorption bands. The marriage of transiting planet and direct-imaging results
may eventually give us the first complete picture of planet migration,
multiplicity, and general evolution.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, IAU Transiting Planets Proceedings, in pres
