Call for White Papers on LSST Cadence Optimization

Zeljko Ivezic, Lynne Jones, and Tiago Ribeiro,
For the LSST Project and LSST Science Advisory Committee

The NOAO science community is invited to play a key role in defining the Observing Strategy for LSST.

The LSST Project has issued a call for white papers to help refine the ‘main survey’ and fully define the use of the 10-20% of time that is expected to be devoted to various ‘mini surveys’ including ‘Deep Drilling mini-surveys’ and ‘Target of Opportunity’ programs.

The call solicits science-driven input for observing strategy properties such as:

• the sky coverage
• per-bandpass imaging depth
• temporal coverage and
• various detailed observing constraints

The submission deadline is 30 November 2018. Details are available in the Call for White Papers on LSST Cadence Optimization.

Background: The LSST Science Requirements Document (SRD) places minimal constraints on the observing strategy, recognizing that science evolves and that the initial (by now more than a decade old) survey strategy would have to be redefined closer to first light. With LSST first light expected in 2020 and the LSST operations phase starting in 2022, now is the time to undertake the final planning for the initial LSST observing strategy. While the existing candidate baseline survey strategy has been defined primarily by the LSST Project, the final planning must be undertaken hand-in-hand with the community. There are no specific limitations on what kind of science programs will be considered, except that the four primary LSST science themes (for a brief introduction, please see ls.st/os9) must remain the cornerstones of the LSST survey.

Questions? An open, searchable resource for asking questions is available on LSST Community. Team members will monitor and respond in a timely manner to questions posted there. In addition, there is a mailing list available (email: lsst-survey-strategy at lists.lsst.org) to contact the survey strategy team in case of specific questions and/or concerns. Messages posted to the mailing list are broadcasted to the survey strategy team and archived. The same list will be used for white paper submission.