The new NOAO Survey Program will be announced in the December issue of the NOAO Newsletter, and an article will also be submitted for the December issue of the AAS Newsletter. A website with complete information for preparing survey proposals will be posted no later than 1 December 1998. An announcement of the program will also be included in the letters sent to investigators who have applied for time in the 1999A semester at KPNO and CTIO. The same announcement will be available at the Austin meeting of the AAS in January 1999. Finally, we will request that the AAS distribute a notice of the due date for Letters of Intent to Propose in the January AAS Electronic Announcements.

Letters of Intent to propose for an NOAO Survey Program must be received by email no later than 29 January 1999. The letters should include the broad scientific goals of the program, the membership of the survey team, the telescope(s) and instrument(s) to be requested, and the approximate amount of time to be requested and the duration of the proposed survey. NOAO staff will review the Letters of Intent, and the investigator will be notified if the proposed program does not fit within the guidelines of the survey program, or if any technical problems are identified.

Six members will be appointed to the Survey TAC for two-year terms (three of the members appointed in 1999 will be appointed for one-year terms so that membership can be staggered). Members will be selected to assure that scientific expertise appropriate to the programs submitted is represented on the Survey TAC. An attempt will be made to minimize conflicts of interest. Membership may include one or more NOAO staff members.

Full Survey Proposals will be due March 15. This due date is set earlier than the due date for regular observing proposals so that the Survey TAC can meet in advance of the other TAC panels. Proposals should be submitted via the standard NOAO proposal form, with the combined scientific justification and experimental design sections, with figures, captions, and references, not to exceed 6 pages. Sample target tables should also be included. Within the science case, survey proposals should explicitly address the primary science drivers, expected advances compared with extant databases, additional potential uses of the survey database, the relationship to other surveys, and the role of the survey in enabling a) other science and b) preparing observing programs for large ground-based and/or space-based facilities. The technical case should include the detailed approach (sample selection, calibration, pipeline processing plan, archiving plan, data dissemination, etc.), a timeline for the release of data, manpower requirements, and a description of institutional and other support for the survey. The proposal should also address any ancillary benefits (e.g. education, algorithms, software packages, information transfer, etc.).

In subsequent years, principal investigators on active, previously-approved Survey Programs should also submit annual progress reports by March 15.

Distribution of Proposals

Copies of all new proposals and progress reports will be sent to the Survey TAC by March 20. The mailing will also include a statement of NOAO policy on survey programs, and a summary of telescopes and instruments available for use.

Concurrent with the Survey TAC review, NOAO will conduct a technical review by a panel of NOAO scientific and technical staff. Their evaluations will be forwarded to Survey TAC members by April 10.

The Survey TAC will meet in late April. During the meeting, all progress reports and new proposals will be reviewed in detail. The panel will rank the new proposals and recommend those which should be approved within the 20% limit for NOAO facilities. Survey programs on the MMT and the HET may exceed that limit. The panel also has the option to recommend changes to the allocations to previously approved programs.

The principal investigators of previously approved programs will be informed immediately if the Survey Panel recommends for changes to their programs. Investigators will be given a chance to respond to these recommendations. Their responses will be forwarded to all members of the Joint TAC.

The Joint NOAO TAC, comprising of members of all the NOAO TAC panels, will meet in mid-May to review the recommendations of all panels and to recommend an appropriate balance of survey and individual investigator programs to the observatory directors.

The principal investigators of all survey proposals (new and active) will be notified of the outcome of their proposals by email as soon as possible after the Joint TAC Meeting.

A post-selection workshop for all approved programs in June or early July each summer, during which the survey teams awarded time will meet with one another and with NOAO, STScI, and/or Gemini staff, as appropriate.

Starting with the January 2000 AAS meeting, NOAO will schedule an annual open workshop to present the science results and progress reports of NOAO Survey Programs to the community.