Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey commissioning and execution

The work to be conducted during spring and summer 2014 will focus on facilitating the commissioning of the instrument and preparation for the start of the survey. It will include the following specific items. 1. Work with the science working groups to refine the science requirements, specifically derive the verifiable measures on S/N thresholds and sky subtraction accuracy. 2. Evaluate the commissioning data from the first cartridge against the science requirements on S/N and sky subtraction accuracy. 3. Evaluate the data of all subsequent cartridge commissioning. 4. Write the spectrophotometry module and work with lead data scientist to incorporate it in the data reduction pipeline. 5. Oversee the observing software development to ensure it is ready and tested for instrument and survey commissioning. 6. Oversee the sample design preparation to ensure plates are ready in time for survey commissioning. 7. Coordinate with APOGEE on joint-survey targeting; supervise the plate designer who will take care of the details. 8. Work out night-sharing rule with eBOSS and APOGEE. 9. Ensure all system is ready for survey commissioning. After the survey commissioning, the scope of work will include: 1. Manage the ‘Survey Caretaker’ position, evaluate quality of survey data at both lowlevel and high-level, and monitor survey progress. 2. Evaluate the quality of the spectrophotometry and make adjustments on star selection and/or reduction software if needed. 3. Work to improve the efficiency of observation and survey productivity. 4. Work with Sample design lead to re-evaluate the sample selection after the first semester. 5. Lead a MaNGA key paper describing the survey execution.