SDSS, LSST and Gaia: Lessons and Synergies

Abstract

The advent of deep, wide, accurate, digital photometric surveys exemplified by the SloanDigital Sky Survey (SDSS) has had a profound impact on studies of the Milky Way. In thepast decade, we have transitioned from a scarcity to an (over)abundance of precise, wellcalibrated, observations of stars over a large fraction of the Galaxy. The avalanche ofdata will continue throughout this decade, culminating with Gaia and LSST. This newreality will necessitate changes in methodology, habits, and expectations both on the sideof the large survey projects as well as the astrophysics community at large. We argue,based on the experience with SDSS, that surveys should release data as early and often aspossible incorporating incremental improvements in each subsequent release, as opposed toholding off for a single, big, final release. The scientific community will need toreciprocate by performing analyses and (re-analyses) appropriate to the current fidelityof the released data, understanding that these are continually evolving and improvingproducts.