The extragalactic applications of NIR surveys are summarized with a focus on
the ability to map the interstellar extinction of our Galaxy. Very preliminary
extraction of galaxies on a set of 180 consecutive images is presented, and the
results illustrate some of the pitfalls in attempting an homogeneous extraction
of galaxies from these wide-angle and shallow surveys.Comment: Invited talk at "The Impact of Large-Scale Near-IR Sky Surveys",
meeting held in Tenerife, Spain, April 1996. 10 pages LaTeX with style file
and 4 PS files include
