The 2.4 μm Galaxy Luminosity Function as Measured Using WISE. II. Sample Selection

Abstract

The WISE satellite surveyed the entire sky multiple times in four infrared (IR) wavelengths (3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μ m). This all-sky IR photometric survey makes it possible to leverage many of the large publicly available spectroscopic redshift surveys to measure galaxy properties in the IR. While characterizing the cross-matching of WISE data to a single survey is a straightforward process, doing it with six different redshift surveys takes a fair amount of space to characterize adequately, because each survey has unique caveats and characteristics that need addressing. This work describes a data set that results from matching five public redshift surveys with the AllWISE data release, along with a reanalysis of the data described in Lake et al. The combined data set has an additional flux limit of 80 μ Jy (19.14 AB mag) in WISE ’s W1 filter, imposed in order to limit it to targets with high completeness and reliable photometry in the AllWISE data set. Consistent analysis of all of the data is only possible if the color bias discussed in Ilbert et al. is addressed (e.g., the techniques explored in Lake et al.). The sample defined herein is used in a companion paper in this series to measure the luminosity function of galaxies at 2.4 μ m rest-frame wavelength, and the selection process of the sample is optimized for this purpose.