CFHT Board of Directors - December 2001

The Legacy Survey

The CFHT Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) is a large-scale multi-component program intended to operate for approximately 5 years beginning with the commissioning of Megaprime.  The observations comprising the Legacy Survey are intended to achieve both of the following objectives: (a) accomplish selected large scale community-defined scientific programs and (b) provide the community with an extensive, homogenous, well characterized, and high quality database having the potential for a wide range of long lasting scientific applications.  The CFHTLS will be carried out with observing time contributed equally by CNRS and NRC.

 
1. The Board endorses the goals of the Legacy Survey (LS) as an exciting project which promises to have major scientific value and wide impact.

2. For each of the two agencies participating in the LS (Canada and France) the total amount of time awarded annually to the Survey will be at least 50% and at most 60% of the Canadian and French shares of dark and gray observing time with seeing of  0.9 arcsec and better, currently corresponding to 85% of the nights.

3. For purposes of detailed time allocation and scheduling, the CFHTLS will be conducted such that each CFHT partner (Canada, France, Hawaii, Korea, Taiwan) will continue to be entitled to its nominal proportions of time, as well as equitable shares of observing conditions (such as lunar phase and season).

4. In scheduling Canadian and French time it is intended that the time allocated to both LS and non-LS programs equitably share observing time under seeing conditions of 0.9 arcsec or better.

5. Once the LS has begun, annual scientific and technical peer review of all components of the Survey will be conducted by SAC and reported to the Board.  Ongoing time allocations for each component will depend on the results of these regular reviews.

6. The Board requests that SAC return as soon as possible, but no later than 15 March 2002, with a revised LS proposal which meets the Legacy criteria and the time allocation limits expressed above.