Forward Global Photometric Calibration of the Dark Energy Survey
Open accessAbstract
Many scientific goals for the Dark Energy Survey (DES) require the calibration of optical/NIR broadband b = grizY photometry that is stable in time and uniform over the celestial sky to one percent or better. It is also necessary to limit to similar accuracy systematic uncertainty in the calibrated broadband magnitudes due to uncertainty in the spectrum of the source. Here we present a “Forward Global Calibration Method (FGCM)” for photometric calibration of the DES, and we present results of its application to the first three years of the survey (Y3A1). The FGCM combines data taken with auxiliary instrumentation at the observatory with data from the broadband survey imaging itself and models of the instrument and atmosphere to estimate the spatial and time dependences of the passbands of individual DES survey exposures. “Standard” passbands that are typical of the passbands encountered during the survey are chosen. The passband of any individual observation is combined with an estimate of the source spectral shape to yield a magnitude in the standard system. This “chromatic correction” to the standard system is necessary to achieve subpercent calibrations and in particular, to resolve ambiguity between the broadband brightness of a source and the shape of its SED. The FGCM achieves a reproducible and stable photometric calibration of standard magnitudes of stellar sources over the multiyear Y3A1 data sample with residual random calibration errors of per exposure. The accuracy of the calibration is uniform across the DES footprint to within . The systematic uncertainties of magnitudes in the standard system due to the spectra of sources are less than for main-sequence stars with .
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SDSS, PS1, and DES data taken in good photometric conditions have approached the LSST requirement of 1% photometric calibration.
“SDSS, PS1, and DES data taken in good photometric conditions have approached the LSST requirement of 1% photometric calibration ( Padmanabhan et al. 2008; Schla fl y et al. 2012; Burke et al. 2018 ) , although measurements with ground-based telescopes typically produce data with errors a factor of two or so larger.”
From LSST: From Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products (2019) · cites this paper as Burke et al. 2018
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- Authors
- Burke, D. L., Rykoff, E. S., Allam, S., Annis, J., Bechtol, K., Bernstein, G. M., Drlica-Wagner, A., Finley, D. A., Gruendl, R. A., James, D. J., Kent, S., Kessler, R., Kuhlmann, S., Lasker, J., Li, T. S., Scolnic, D., Smith, J., Tucker, D. L., Wester, W., Yanny, B., Abbott, T. M. C., Abdalla, F. B., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Rosell, A. C., Kind, M. C., Carretero, J., Cunha, C. E., D’Andrea, C. B., da Costa, L. N., Desai, S., Diehl, H. T., Doel, P., Estrada, J., García-Bellido, J., Gruen, D., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., Kuehn, K., Kuropatkin, N., Maia, M. A. G., March, M., Marshall, J. L., Melchior, P., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Plazas, A. A., Sako, M., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schindler, R., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R. C., Soares-Santos, M., Sobreira, F., Suchyta, E., Tarle, G., Walker, A. R., & (DES Collaboration)
- Affiliations
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (US)
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (US)
- Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Corporation (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- University of Washington (US)
- University of Chicago (US)
- Argonne National Laboratory (US)
- Austin Peay State University (US)
- Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CL)
- Rhodes University (ZA)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- National Observatory (BR)
- Institute for High Energy Physics (ES)
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US)
- Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IN)
- University College London (GB)
- Instituto de Física Teórica (ES)
- The Ohio State University (US)
- Australian Astronomical Observatory (AU)
- Texas A&M University (US)
- Princeton University (US)
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US)
- Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (ES)
- University of Southampton (GB)
- Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) (BR)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- ORCID
- Burke, D. L.
- Rykoff, E. S.
- Annis, J.
- Bechtol, K.
- Drlica-Wagner, A.
- Finley, D. A.
- Gruendl, R. A.
- James, D. J.
- Kessler, R.
- Yanny, B.
- Abbott, T. M. C.
- Abdalla, F. B.
- Benoit-Lévy, A.
- Bertin, E.
- Rosell, A. Carnero
- Kind, M. Carrasco
- Carretero, J.
- Desai, S.
- Diehl, H. T.
- Doel, P.
- García-Bellido, J.
- Gruen, D.
- Honscheid, K.
- Marshall, J. L.
- Melchior, P.
- Miquel, R.
- Plazas, A. A.
- Sako, M.
- Schindler, R.
- Smith, M.
- Soares-Santos, M.
- Venue
- The Astronomical Journal
- Publisher
- American Astronomical Society
- Published
- 2017-12-28
- Volume
- 155
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 41
- ISSN
- 0004-6256 (ISSN-L)
- 1538-3881
- OpenAlex
- W2623782234
- Cited by
- 111
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 10 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 9.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Astronomical Journal (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Americanae (AECID Library) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (FP7/2007-2013, DE-AC02-76SF00515, 1138766)
- U.S. Department of Energy (76SF00515, DE–AC02–76SF00515, AC02‐76SF00515, 48274, 47986, DE-AC02-)
- University of Pennsylvania
- Ohio State University
- University of Chicago
- University of Portsmouth
- University of Sussex
- Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (SEV-2012-0234)
- Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
- Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (FP7/2007-2013, ST/M001334/1, DE-AC02-76SF00515)
- FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (240672, 291329, 306478)
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (DEAC02−76SF00515, AC02‐76SF00515)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Instrumentation › Astronomy and Astrophysical Research
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Calibration and Measurement Techniques
- Keywords
- photometric calibration, Dark Energy Survey, broadband photometry, chromatic aberration correction
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