TOPz: Photometric redshifts for J-PAS

Context. The importance of photometric galaxy redshift estimation is rapidly increasing with the development of specialised powerful observational facilities. Aims. We develop a new photometric redshift estimation workflow TOPz to provide reliable and efficient redshift estimations for the upcoming large-scale survey J-PAS which will observe 8500 deg(2) of the northern sky through 54 narrow-band filters. Methods. TOPz relies on template-based photo-z estimation with some added J-PAS specific features and possibilities. We present TOPz performance on data from the miniJPAS survey, a precursor to the J-PAS survey with an identical filter system. First, we generated spectral templates based on the miniJPAS sources using the synthetic galaxy spectrum generation software CIGALE. Then we applied corrections to the input photometry by minimising systematic offsets from the template flux in each filter. To assess the accuracy of the redshift estimation, we used spectroscopic redshifts from the DEEP2, DEEP3, and SDSS surveys, available for 1989 miniJPAS galaxies with r < 22 mag(AB). We also tested how the choice and number of input templates, photo-z priors, and photometric corrections affect the TOPz redshift accuracy. Results. The general performance of the combination of miniJPAS data and the TOPz workflow fulfills the expectations for J-PAS redshift accuracy. Similarly to previous estimates, we find that 38.6% of galaxies with r < 22 mag reach the J-PAS redshift accuracy goal of dz/(1 + z) < 0.003. Limiting the number of spectra in the template set improves the redshift accuracy up to 5%, especially for fainter, noise-dominated sources. Further improvements will be possible once the actual J-PAS data become available.

Automated summary

The importance of photometric galaxy redshift estimation is increasing with the development of observational facilities. In this study, a new photometric redshift estimation workflow (TOPz) is developed and tested on miniJPAS survey data. The results show that TOPz achieves the expected redshift accuracy for the upcoming large-scale survey J-PAS and limiting the number of spectra in the template set can further improve the accuracy.