Data Management
and LSST Special Programs

Abstract

The core LSST science goals will be met by the Wide-Fast-Deep (WFD) Main Survey, which is expected to be accomplished with 85–90% of the observing time. The remaining 10–15% of the time will be spent on Special Programs: additional survey areas and/or observing strategies that are driven by specific science goals which build on, or are beyond, the core science pillars of the LSST.

This document provides a summary of the Special Programs being considered, the potential diversity of data they might produce (e.g., shorter or longer exposure times), and the role of Rubin Observatory in reducing, processing, and serving data products from Special Programs. The latter includes a discussion about the relevant system requirements, the needed capabilities of the LSST Science Pipelines and the Rubin Science Platform, and the cases in which Special Programs data products would be User-Generated.

The specialized, science-specific aspects of Special Programs processing and analysis that are best left to the science community are also described, and illustrated with case-study examples.

The main target audience of this document is Rubin Observatory staff – the construction-era Data Management (DM) team and the operations-era Data Production (RDP) team – but members of the science community who are planning to use Special Programs to reach their science goals may also find this document useful.