A

Euclid : Improving redshift distribution reconstruction using a deep-to-wide transfer function

Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 709, pp. A55

Abstract

The Euclid mission of the European Space Agency seeks to understand the Universe’s expansion history and the nature of dark energy, through measurements of cosmic shear. This requires a very accurate estimate of the true redshift distribution of the galaxies, with the systematic error in the mean redshift satisfying σ ⟨ z ⟩ < 0.002(1 + z ) per tomographic bin. Achieving this accuracy relies on reference samples with spectroscopic redshifts, together with a procedure to match them to survey sources for which only photometric redshifts are available. One important source of systematic uncertainty is the mismatch in photometric properties between galaxies in the Euclid survey and the reference objects. We develop a method to degrade the photometry of objects with deep photometry to match the properties of any shallower survey in the multi-band photometric space, preserving all the correlations between the fluxes and their uncertainties. We compare our transfer method with more demanding image-based methods, such as Balrog from the Dark Energy Survey Collaboration. According to our metrics, our method outperforms Balrog. We implement our method in the redshift distribution reconstruction, based on the self-organising map approach, and test it using a realistic sample from the Euclid Flagship Mock Galaxy Simulation. We find that the key ingredient is to ensure that the reference objects are distributed in the colour space the same way as the wide-survey objects, which can be efficiently achieved with our transfer method. In our best implementation, the mean redshift biases are consistently reduced across the tomographic bins, bringing a significant fraction of them within the Euclid accuracy requirements in all tomographic bins. Equally importantly, the tests allow us to pinpoint which step in the calibration pipeline has the strongest impact on achieving the required accuracy. Our approach also reproduces the overall redshift distributions, which are crucial for applications such as angular clustering. The agreement between the reconstructed and true distributions demonstrates both the feasibility and robustness of the approach. This implementation is sufficient for Euclid Data Release 1 and provides a solid foundation for subsequent data releases.

Authors 100

  1. University of Geneva

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva

  2. University of Geneva

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva

  3. University of Geneva

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva

  4. Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna

  5. Ruhr University Bochum

    Affiliation as printed

    Ruhr University Bochum, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Astronomical Institute (AIRUB), German Centre for Cosmological Lensing (GCCL)

  6. University of Geneva

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva

  7. Institute of Space Sciences · Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya · Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

    Affiliation as printed

    Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC), Edifici RDIT, Campus UPC

    Institute of Space Sciences (ICE, CSIC), Campus UAB

  8. California Institute of Technology · Infrared Processing and Analysis Center

    Affiliation as printed

    Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology

  9. Institute for High Energy Physics · Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology

    Affiliation as printed

    Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB

  10. Ruhr University Bochum

    Affiliation as printed

    Ruhr University Bochum, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Astronomical Institute (AIRUB), German Centre for Cosmological Lensing (GCCL)

  11. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Aix-Marseille Université

    Affiliation as printed

    Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, CNES, LAM

  12. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona · Institute for High Energy Physics · Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology

    Affiliation as printed

    Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB

    Serra Húnter Fellow, Departament de Física, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

  13. Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics

    Affiliation as printed

    Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics

  14. Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California

  15. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Université Paris-Saclay · Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale

    Affiliation as printed

    Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Institut d’astrophysique spatiale

  16. European Space Agency · European Space Astronomy Centre

    Affiliation as printed

    ESAC/ESA

  17. Brera Astronomical Observatory · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera

  18. Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna

  19. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Université Paris Cité · Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives · Université Paris-Saclay · Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation

    Affiliation as printed

    Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité, CEA, CNRS, AIM

  20. Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati · Trieste Astronomical Observatory · Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste · Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    IFPU, Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe

    INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste

    INFN, Sezione di Trieste

    SISSA, International School for Advanced Studies

  21. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bologna · Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio · National Institute for Astrophysics · University of Bologna

    Affiliation as printed

    Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna

    INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna

    INFN-Sezione di Bologna

  22. Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna

  23. Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna

  24. Trieste Astronomical Observatory · Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    IFPU, Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe

    INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste

  25. Brera Astronomical Observatory · Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Genova · University of Genoa · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Genova

    INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera

    INFN-Sezione di Genova

  26. Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte · University of Naples Federico II · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics “E. Pancini”, University Federico II

    INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte

  27. European Southern Observatory · Universidade do Porto · Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences · Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto · European Southern Observatory

    Affiliation as printed

    European Southern Observatory

    Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo de Alegre

    Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Universidade do Porto, CAUP, Rua das Estrelas

  28. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Torino · Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino · University of Turin · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Torino

    INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino

    INFN-Sezione di Torino

  29. Leiden University · Royal Observatory · Leiden Observatory · University of Edinburgh

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill

    Leiden Observatory, Leiden University

  30. Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino

  31. National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-IASF Milano

  32. Astronomical Observatory of Rome · Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma I · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma

    INFN-Sezione di Roma

  33. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona · Port d'Informació Científica · Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas

    Affiliation as printed

    Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT)

    Port d’Informació Científica, Campus UAB

  34. Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR) · RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR), Linder Höhe

    Institute for Theoretical Particle Physics and Cosmology (TTK), RWTH Aachen University

  35. Astronomical Observatory of Rome · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma

  36. Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna

  37. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare · Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte · Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte

    INFN section of Naples

  38. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa · University of Hawaii System

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii

  39. University of Bologna

    Affiliation as printed

    Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Augusto Righi” – Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna

  40. Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

    Affiliation as printed

    Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

  41. Royal Observatory · University of Edinburgh

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill

  42. European Space Agency · European Space Astronomy Centre · European Space Research Institute

    Affiliation as printed

    ESAC/ESA

    European Space Agency/ESRIN

  43. Lyon 1 Université · Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules · Institut de Physique des 2 Infinis de Lyon

    Affiliation as printed

    Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IP2I Lyon, UMR 5822

  44. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Aix-Marseille Université

    Affiliation as printed

    Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, CNES, LAM

  45. Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats · Institute of Space Sciences · Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas · Institut de Ciències del Cosmos · Universitat de Barcelona

    Affiliation as printed

    Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA)

    Institut de Ciencies de l’Espai (IEEC-CSIC), Campus UAB

    Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB)

  46. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules · Institut de Physique des 2 Infinis de Lyon

    Affiliation as printed

    UCB Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IUF, IP2I Lyon

  47. University College London

    Affiliation as printed

    Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking

  48. University of Geneva

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva

  49. Trieste Astronomical Observatory · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste

  50. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Université Paris-Saclay · Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale

    Affiliation as printed

    Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Institut d’astrophysique spatiale

  51. Royal Observatory · University of Edinburgh

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill

  52. European Space Agency · European Space Astronomy Centre

    Affiliation as printed

    ESAC/ESA

  53. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare · Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova

    Affiliation as printed

    INFN-Padova

  54. Lyon 1 Université · Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules · Institut de Physique des 2 Infinis de Lyon

    Affiliation as printed

    Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IP2I Lyon, UMR 5822

  55. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Aix-Marseille Université · Centre de physique des particules de Marseille · Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules

    Affiliation as printed

    Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM

  56. Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali

  57. Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna

  58. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Université Paris Cité · Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives · Université Paris-Saclay · Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation

    Affiliation as printed

    Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité, CEA, CNRS, AIM

  59. Astronomical Observatory of Rome · Agenzia Spaziale Italiana · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma

    Space Science Data Center, Italian Space Agency

  60. Lyon 1 Université · Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules · Institut de Physique des 2 Infinis de Lyon

    Affiliation as printed

    Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IP2I Lyon, UMR 5822

  61. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bologna · Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna

    INFN-Bologna

  62. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Aix-Marseille Université · Centre de physique des particules de Marseille · Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules

    Affiliation as printed

    Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM

  63. Trieste Astronomical Observatory · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste

  64. Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna

  65. National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-IASF Milano

  66. Trieste Astronomical Observatory · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste

  67. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

    Affiliation as printed

    University Observatory, LMU Faculty of Physics

  68. Royal Observatory · University of Edinburgh

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill

  69. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bologna · Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna

    INFN-Sezione di Bologna

  70. Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics

    Affiliation as printed

    Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics

  71. Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova

  72. Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics · Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

    Affiliation as printed

    Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics

    Universitäts-Sternwarte München, Fakultät für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

  73. University of Oslo

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo

  74. Leiden University · Leiden Observatory

    Affiliation as printed

    Leiden Observatory, Leiden University

  75. Jet Propulsion Laboratory

    Affiliation as printed

    Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

  76. Affiliation as printed

    Felix Hormuth Engineering

  77. Technical University of Denmark

    Affiliation as printed

    Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN)

    Technical University of Denmark

  78. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris · Sorbonne Université

    Affiliation as printed

    Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, UMR 7095, CNRS, and Sorbonne Université

  79. Max Planck Institute for Astronomy

    Affiliation as printed

    Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie

  80. Goddard Space Flight Center

    Affiliation as printed

    NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

  81. University College London

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London

  82. Helsinki Institute of Physics

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics and Helsinki Institute of Physics

  83. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Aix-Marseille Université · Centre de physique des particules de Marseille · Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules

    Affiliation as printed

    Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM

  84. Jet Propulsion Laboratory

    Affiliation as printed

    Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

  85. Lyon 1 Université · Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules · Institut de Physique des 2 Infinis de Lyon

    Affiliation as printed

    Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IP2I Lyon, UMR 5822

  86. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

    Affiliation as printed

    Universitäts-Sternwarte München, Fakultät für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

  87. University of Geneva

    Affiliation as printed

    Université de Genève, Département de Physique Théorique and Centre for Astroparticle Physics

  88. Helsinki Institute of Physics

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics

    Helsinki Institute of Physics

  89. University of Groningen

    Affiliation as printed

    Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen

  90. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Université Paris Sciences et Lettres · Observatoire de Paris · Sorbonne Université · Laboratoire d'Étude de l'Univers et des Phénomènes Extrêmes

    Affiliation as printed

    Laboratoire d’etude de l’Univers et des phenomenes eXtremes, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, CNRS

  91. Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino

  92. University of Oslo

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo

  93. Helsinki Institute of Physics

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics

    Helsinki Institute of Physics

  94. SKA Observatory

    Affiliation as printed

    SKAO, Jodrell Bank, Lower Withington

  95. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Centre de Calcul de l’Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules

    Affiliation as printed

    Centre de Calcul de l’IN2P3/CNRS

  96. University of Milan · Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    Dipartimento di Fisica “Aldo Pontremoli”, Università degli Studi di Milano

    INAF-IASF Milano

    INFN-Sezione di Milano

  97. Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna

  98. Trieste Astronomical Observatory · National Institute for Astrophysics

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste

  99. FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland

    Affiliation as printed

    University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Northwestern Switzerland, School of Computer Science

  100. University of Bonn

    Affiliation as printed

    Universität Bonn, Argelander-Institut für Astronomie

Cited by 0 stored of 0

No patents citing this paper on Lens.org (checked 2026-10-06).

References 52