Status of Science Validation Survey#
The design of the Science Validation (SV) survey is described in SITCOMTN-005 section 6.
The SV survey is intended to replicate the operations LSST as closely as possible, while still allowing significant tests of alert generation, data release creation, and providing a scientifically significant dataset to the astronomical community.
The survey strategy is thus generally similar to that of the operations LSST, however in order to reach depths equivalent to 1-2 years of standard LSST observing within the timeframe of the 2-3 months available during commissioning, the footprint is much smaller than the full survey footprint and pointings are generally repeated at least every night instead of every few nights. The cadence within a night is roughly similar to the operations survey, with observations typically obtained in pairs of visits separated by 30 minutes or so, but the return visits to the field on subsequent nights are more frequent.
The footprint for the SV survey consists primarily of just over 3000 square degrees focused along the ecliptic, reaching from within the Galactic Plane to within the North Ecliptic Spur portion of the LSST footprint. Additional area within the LSST low-dust WFD footprint will be covered on a best-effort basis in order to obtain images which can be used for template building; this area primarily serves as backup for when the ecliptic portion of the footprint is unavailable due to the moon avoidance mask or at times in the morning when the telescope is limited in azimuth range due to dome closure rules in effect during commissioning.
An initial survey simulation, with an estimate for the performance of the observatory, indicates that the SV survey should be capable of acquiring on the order of 125 visits per pointing within the primary SV survey area.
Last Updated
Last Updated 2025/07/20