Classification-aided zph estimation

The main feature of CPz is the unified treatment of all classes of objects detected in extragalactic surveys: galaxies of any type (passive, starforming and starbursts), active galactic nuclei (AGN), quasi-stellar objects (QSO), stars and also includes the identification of potential photometric redshift catastrophic outliers. The method operates in three stages. First, the photometric catalog is confronted with star, galaxy and QSO model templates by means of spectral energy distribution fitting.

Second, three machine-learning classifiers are used to identify 1) the probability of each source to be a star, 2) the optimal photometric redshift model library set-up for each source and 3) the probability to be a photometric redshift catastrophic outlier. Lastly, the final sample is assembled by identifying the probability thresholds to be applied on the outcome of each of the three classifiers. Hence, with the final stage we can create a sample appropriate for a given science case, for example favoring purity over completeness.

We apply our method to the near- infrared VISTA public surveys, matched with optical photometry from CFHTLS, KiDS and SDSS, mid-infrared WISE photometry and ultra-violet photometry from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). We show that CPz offers improved photometric redshift performance for both normal galaxies and AGN without the need for extra X-ray information.