zBootes:: z-band photometry in the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey Bootes field

We present zBootes, a new z-band photometric imaging campaign of 7.62 deg(2) in the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS) Bootes field. In this paper, all of the images for this survey are released as well as the associated catalogs. The final zBootes catalogs are complete ( at the 50% level) to 22.7 mag over 50% of the field. With these depths, the zBootes images should be sensitive to L* galaxies to z similar to 1 overmuch of the survey area. These data have several possible applications including searching for and characterizing high-redshift quasars and brown dwarfs and providing added constraints to photometric redshift determinations of galaxies and active galaxies to moderate redshift. The zBootes imaging adds photometric data at a new wavelength to the existing wealth of multiwavelength observations of the NDWFS Bootes field.