Dr. Phil Lucas
University of Herfordshire

University of Florida Astronomy Colloquium - Apr. 4th, 2007

Near IR and optical public surveys of the Galactic Plane: UKIDSS GPS, VISTA VVV, INT IPHAS and VST VPHAS+

A major effort to map the entire Galactic Plane at high spatial resolution is now underway at near infrared and optical optical wavelengths. Large quantites of data from these European and Chilean-led surveys will become world public in 2007 and are already available to anyone with a collaborator in an ESO member state. I describe the types of science which these surveys are designed to do, and the benefits of combining UKIDSS GPS and SPITZER-GLIMPSE data in star formation regions. I will also show examples of how to use the sophisticated tools provided by WFCAM Science Archive to interrogate the existing SQL database of UKIRT-WFCAM data and the future VISTA database.