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The SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline 'sppParams' Table

Up to Spectra

Spectra for over 250,000 Galactic stars of all common spectral types are available with DR6. These Spectra were processed with a pipeline called the 'SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline' (sspp) which computes standard stellar atmospheric parameters such as [Fe/H], log g and Teff for each star by a variety of methods. These outputs are stored in the CAS in a table called 'sppParams', indexed on the 'specObjID' key index parameter for queries joining to other tables such as specobjall and photoobjall.

The fields available in the sppParams (also see sppParams description in CAS schema browser) table are:


n 	fieldName	type/unit 	 Description
0 	specobjid 	int64 		64 bit unique spectrum id f(plate,mjd,fiberid)
1 	plate 		int 		plate number
2 	mjd 		int 		Modified Julian Date of (last) observation for this plate/mjd combination
3 	fiberid 	int 		Fiber number (1-640) 1-320 on spectrograph#1 321-640 on spectrograph#2
4 	fehspectype 	char[4]		SEGUE or SDSS target type abbreviations (type as targeted from photo) 
					AGB 	Asymtotic Giant Branch candidate star
					BHB 	Blue Horizontal Branch candidate star
					CVR 	Cool White Dwarf candidate star
					FTO 	F turnoff candidate star
					GAL 	SDSS main survey or LRG GALAXY candidate
					GD 	G Dwarf candidate star
					HOT 	HOT standard star (main SDSS Survey, g-r < 0)
					KD 	K Dwarf candidate star
					KG 	K Giant candidate star
					LOW 	Low metalicity candidate star
					MD	M Dwarf candidate star
					PHO 	Photometric Standard star (usually brighter F dwarf)
					QA 	Quality Assurance target (in SEGUE, duplicates another fiber)
					QSO 	SDSS main survey QSO candidate
					RED 	Reddening Standard star (usually fainter F dwarf)
					ROS 	may be F/G dwarf or MS/WD or low lat target
					SER 	Serendip. Manual (1. globular/open cluster 2. High Prop motion)
					STA 	Main SDSS survey STAR (not GAL or QSO or Standard)
					SKY 	Sky fiber, should have no object flux
					WD 	White Dwarf candidate fiber
5 	sptypea 	char[4] 	Stellar Type Classification -- A
					F0-F9, G0-G9, K0-K5, K7, M0-M9, L0-L8 NA
6	hammersptype 	char[5] 	Stellar Type Classification -- B
					00, AGN, QSO, O, OB, A0, A0p, B6, B9, Car, CAR, CV, CWD, 
					F2, F5, F9 G0, G2, G5, K1, K3, K5, K7, M0V, M1-M8, L0, L1-L5, 
					L9, QSO, SBT, SFM, SKY, STA, T2, WD, WDm
7	flag 	char[5] 		SSPP flags
    					4 flags for each spectrum as a 4 char string 'abcd'. 
    					xxxx = this is not a star, it's a Galaxy/QSO from SDSS main 
    					n= all is normal for this flag position (one of four) 
    					By position:

       					1. d, D, E, h, H, l, n, N, S, V
              			  	d: possible White Dwarf
              			  	D: apparent White Dwarf
              			  	E: Emission, possible QSO
              			  	h: Helium line detected
              			  	H: apparent Teff too Hot for parameter est.
              			  	l: Sodium line, possibly late type
              			  	N: Noise spectrum
              			  	S: Sky fiber -- no signal
              			  	V: Radial Velocity mismatch 
       			       		2. C
              				  Color mismatch (spectroscopic color Teff far from implied (g-r)_0
              				  color Teff)
			       		3. B
			       		   Balmer flag: unusual Balmer eq. widths for star 
			       		4. g
              				  g band : unsual G-band eq. width for star Carbon star? 

8 	feha 		float/dex 	adopted [Fe/H] value -- if abs(fehr-fehw) < 0.15, feha=fehw, if not,
                                        feha=(fehr + fehw)/2.0. If not available, set to -9.999
9 	fehan 		int 		number of estimators. if feha=(fehr + fehw)/2.0, =1; if feha=fehw, =fehwn
10	fehaerr 	float/dex 	error/sigma on the [Fe/H] value. If not available, set to -9.999
11	fehw 		float/dex 	bi-weight [Fe/H] value from all available estimates of [Fe/H].
                                        If not available, set to -9.999
12 	fehwn 		int 		number of estimators for bi-weight averaging
13 	fehwerr 	float/dex 	error/sigma on the [Fe/H] value. If not available, set to -9.999
14 	fehr 		float/dex 	refined [Fe/H] from assorted estimates of [Fe/H] by comparing synthetic
                                        spectra. If not available, set to -9.999
15 	fehrn 		int 		number of estimators for calculating refine [Fe/H]
16 	fehrerr 	float/dex 	error/sigma on the [Fe/H] value. If not available, set to -9.999
17 	feh1 		float/dex 	YoungSun's Kurucz grid 2 (NGS2 grid). If not available, set to -9.999
18 	feh1n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
19 	feh1err 	float/dex 	error/sigma on the [Fe/H] value. If not available, set to -9.999
20 	feh2 		float/dex 	YoungSun's Kurucz grid 1 (NGS1 grid). If not available, set to -9.999
21 	feh2n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
22 	feh2err 	float/dex 	error/sigma on the [Fe/H] value. If not available, set to -9.999
23 	feh3 		float/dex 	[Fe/H] from neural network method. If not available, set to -9.999
24 	feh3n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
25 	feh3err 	float/dex 	error/sigma on the [Fe/H] value. If not available, set to -9.999
26 	feh4 		float/dex 	[Fe/H] from Ca II K method. If not available, set to -9.999
27 	feh4n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
28 	feh4err 	float/dex 	error/sigma on the [Fe/H] value. If not available, set to -9.999
29 	feh5 		float/dex 	[Fe/H] from auto-correlation method. If not available, set to -9.999
30 	feh5n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
31 	feh5err 	float/dex 	error/sigma on the [Fe/H] value. If not available, set to -9.999
32 	feh6 		float/dex 	[Fe/H] from Ca II triplet method. If not available, set to -9.999
33 	feh6n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
34 	feh6err 	float/dex 	error/sigma on the [Fe/H] value. If not available, set to -9.999
35 	feh7 		float/dex 	[Fe/H] from Wilhelm, Beers, and Gray (1999) method. If not available,
                                        set to -9.999
36 	feh7n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
37 	feh7err 	float/dex 	error/sigma on the [Fe/H] value. If not available, set to -9.999
38 	feh8 		float/dex 	[Fe/H] from Carlos k24 grid. If not available, set to -9.999
39 	feh8n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
40 	feh8err 	float/dex 	error/sigma on the [Fe/H] value. If not available, set to -9.999
41 	feh9 		float/dex 	[Fe/H] from Carlos ki13 grid. If not available, set to -9.999
42 	feh9n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
43 	feh9err 	float/dex 	error/sigma on the [Fe/H] value. If not available, set to -9.999
44 	teffa 		float/Kelvin 	Adopted Teff -- weighted mean of all available methods teff1-teff10
                                        below. If not available, set to -9999
45 	teffan 		int 		number of methods averaged
46 	teffaerr 	float/K 	error/sigma on the Teff. If not available, set to -9999
47 	teff1 		float/K 	Teff from H alpha line. If not available, set to -9999
48 	teff1n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
49 	teff1err 	float/K 	erorr/sigma on the Teff. If not available, set to -9999
50 	teff2 		float/K 	Teff from H delta line index. If not available, set to -9999
51 	teff2n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
52 	teff2err 	float/K 	erorr/sigma on the Teff. If not available, set to -9999
53 	teff3 		float/K 	Teff from Kurucz models, based on colors. If not available, set to -9999
54 	teff3n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
55 	teff3err 	float/K 	erorr/sigma on the Teff. If not available, set to -9999
56 	teff4 		float/K 	Teff from Girardi isochrones (2004). If not available, set to -9999
57 	teff4n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
58 	teff4err 	float/K 	erorr/sigma on the Teff. If not available, set to -9999
59 	teff5 		float/K 	Teff from Ivezic et al. (2007) -- based on colors. If not available,
                                        set to -9999
60 	teff5n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
61 	teff5err 	float/K 	erorr/sigma on the Teff. If not available, set to -9999
62 	teff6 		float/K 	Teff from YoungSun's Kurucz grid 1 (NGC1 grid). If not available,
                                        set to -9999
63 	teff6n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
64 	teff6err 	float/K 	erorr/sigma on the Teff. If not available, set to -9999
65 	teff7 		float/K 	Teff from neural network method. If not available, set to -9999
66 	teff7n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
67 	teff7err 	float/K 	erorr/sigma on the Teff. If not available, set to -9999
68 	teff8 		float/K 	Teff from Wilhelm, Beers, and Gray (1999) method. If not available,
                                        set to -9999
69 	teff8n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
70 	teff8err 	float/K 	erorr/sigma on the Teff. If not available, set to -9999
71 	teff9 		float/K 	Teff from Carlos k24 grid. If not available, set to -9999
72 	teff9n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
73 	teff9err 	float/K 	erorr/sigma on the Teff. If not available, set to -9999
74 	teff10 		float/K 	Teff from Carlos ki13 grid. If not available, set to -9999
75 	teff10n 	int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
76 	teff10err 	float/K 	erorr/sigma on the Teff. If not available, set to -9999
77 	logga 		float/dex 	Adopted log g -- weighted mean of all available methods logg1-logg8
                                        below. If not available, set to -9.999
78 	loggan 		int 		number of methods used
79 	loggaerr 	float/dex 	error/sigma in the log g. If not available, set to -9.999
80 	logg1 		float/dex 	log g from YoungSun's Kurucz grid 2 (NGS2). If not available,
                                        set to -9.999
81 	logg1n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
82 	logg1err 	float/dex 	error/sigma in the log g. If not available, set to -9.999
83 	logg2 		float/dex 	log g from YoungSun's Kurucz grid 1 (NGS1). If not available,
                                        set to -9.999
84 	logg2n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
85 	logg2err 	float/dex 	error/sigma in the log g. If not available, set to -9.999
86 	logg3 		float/dex 	log g from neural netork method. If not available, set to -9.999
87 	logg3n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
88 	logg3err 	float/dex 	error/sigma in the log g. If not available, set to -9.999
89 	logg4 		float/dex 	log g from from Ca I (4227 A) line index. If not available, set to -9.999
90 	logg4n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
91 	logg4err 	float/dex 	error/sigma in the log g. If not available, set to -9.999
92 	logg5 		float/dex 	log g from MgH features (around 5170 A). If not available, set to -9.999
93 	logg5n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
94 	logg5err 	float/dex 	error/sigma in the log g. If not available, set to -9.999
95 	logg6 		float/dex 	log g from Wilhelm, Beers, and Gray method (1999). If not available,
                                        set to -9.999
96 	logg6n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
97 	logg6err 	float/dex 	error/sigma in the log g. If not available, set to -9.999
98 	logg7 		float/dex 	log g from Carlos k24 grid. If not available, set to -9.999
99 	logg7n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
100 	logg7err 	float/dex 	error/sigma in the log g. If not available, set to -9.999
101 	logg8 		float/dex 	log g from Carlos ki13 grid. If not available, set to -9.999
102 	logg8n 		int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
103 	logg8err 	float/dex 	error/sigma in the log g. If not available, set to -9.999
104 	alphafe 	float/dex 	[alpha/Fe] from YoungSun's Kurucz grid 2 (NGS2). If not available, 
                                        set to -9.999 (experimental)
105 	alphafen 	int 		indicator variable, =1 ok, =0 not used
106 	alphafeerr 	float/dex 	error/sigam in [alpha/Fe]. If not available, set to -9.999
107 	distV 		float/kpc 	distance to star if star is dwarf (Luminosity class V)
108 	distTO 		float/kpc 	distance to star if star is turnoff star (class IV)
109 	distIII 	float/kpc 	distance to star if star is giant (Lum class III)
110 	distAGB 	float/kpc 	distance to star if star is on Asym giant branch
111 	distHB 		float/kpc 	distance to star if star is on Horizontal Branch
112 	distCAP 	float/kpc 	distance to star from Carlos model fits
113 	unused1 	float		unused
114 	distZ 		float/kpc 	distance to star in Z direction above Galactic plane
115 	KPindex 	float/Angstroms	Ca II K line index
116 	GPindex 	float/Angstroms	G band line index
117 	unused2		float	 	unused
118 	RVflag 		char[32] 	RV flag, if ok, it says OK
119 	rva 		float/km/s 	Adopted RV (usually Elodie) with +7.3m km/s offset added to fit known 
                                        clusters
					THIS IS THE Radial Velocity to use in nearly all circumstances for stars
120 	rvaerr 		float/km/s 	error in RV
121 	calcrv 		float/km/s 	sspp calculated RV c=3e5 used throughout (i.e. not 299792.)
122 	calcrverr 	float/km/s 	error in calcrv
123 	bsrv 		float/km/s 	SpecBS RV -- based on templates taken from actual SDSS spectra, 
                                        zeropointed
124 	bsrverr 	float/km/s 	SpecBS RV error
125 	elodierv 	float/km/s 	ELODIE template match RV (best estimate if err not 0, > 20)
126 	elodierverr 	float/km/s 	ELODIE RV error
127 	unused3 	float 		unused
128 	unused4 	float 		unused
129 	velgal 		float/km/s 	Galactocentric radial velocity
130 	g0 		float/mag 	Dereddened psf magnitude in the g band. SFD(98) used to subtract 
                                        E(B-V)*3.793
131 	V0 		float/mag 	Derived V magnitude, V0, determined from g0 - 0.561((g-r)_0)-0.004
132 	gmr0 		float/mag 	Dereddened psf color (g-r)_0
133 	grhbaa 		float/mag 	Adopted predicted (g-r)_0 from grbha, grbhd, grhp
134 	grbha 		float/mag 	predicted (g-r)_0 from H alpha line index
135 	grbhd 		float/mag 	predicted (g-r)_0 from H delta line index
136 	grhp 		float/mag 	predicted (g-r)_0 from half power point
137 	BmV0 		float/mag 	(B-V)_0 derived from 0.916(g-r)+0.187
138 	BmVBalmer0 	float/mag 	(B-V)_0 derived from H balmer lines
139 	umg0 		float/mag 	Dereddened psf color (u-g)_0
140 	rmi0 		float/mag 	Dereddened psf color (r-i)_0
141 	imz0 		float/mag 	Dereddened psf color (i-z)_0
142 	uerr 		float/mag 	Error in psf magnitude u band
143 	gerr 		float/mag 	error in g
144 	rerr 		float/mag 	error in r
145 	ierr 		float/mag 	error in i
146 	zerr 		float/mag 	error in z
147 	ebv 		float 		E(B-V) at this (l,b) from SFD98
148 	sna 		float 		Average Signal to noise ratio per pixel over 3950-6000 A
149 	qualitycheck 	int 		Quality check integer
150 	ra 		double/deg 	RA (J2000)
151 	dec 		double/deg 	DEC (J2000)
152 	l 		double/deg 	Galactic Longitude
153 	b 		double/deg 	Galactic Latitude
154 	chiHK 		float 		chi-square/dof measurement for the best fit to the spectrum in the 
                                        region of Ca H+K
155 	chiGband	float 		chi-square/dof measure for the best fit spectrum in the region of the 
                                        G band
156 	chiMg 		float 		chi-square/dof measure for the best fit spectrum in the region of 
                                        Mg triplet
157 	pmepoch 	double/years 	Proper motion epoch
158 	pmmatch 	int 		Proper motion match to USNO-B catalog (1 = match, 0 =no match)
159 	pmdelta 	float/arcsec 	distance the star has moved
160 	pml 		float/mas/yr 	propermotion in the Galactic l direction
161 	pmb 		float/mas/yr 	proper motion in the Galactic b direction
162 	pmra 		float/mas/yr 	proper motion in ra
163 	pmdec 		float/mas/yr 	proper motion in dec
164 	pmraerr 	float/mas/yr 	error in pmra
165 	pmdecerr	float/mas/yr 	error in pmdec
166 	pmsigra 	float 		sigma in ra ppm
167 	pmsigdec	float 		sigma in dec ppm
168 	pmnfit 		int 		number of fits to the ppm
169 	usnomag_u 	float/mag 	USNO-B mag of the star in the derived u band
170 	usnomag_g 	float/mag 	USNO-B mag of the star in the derived g band
171 	usnomag_r 	float/mag 	USNO-B mag of the star in the derived r band
172 	usnomag_i 	float/mag 	USNO-B mag of the star in the derived i band
173 	usnomag_z 	float/mag 	USNO-B mag of the star in the derived z band
174 	pmdist20 	float/mag 	distance to nearest star brighter than 20th
175 	pmdist22 	float/mag 	distance to nearest star brighter than 22nd
176 	brun 		int 		Run number (best reduction of sky) from photoobjall table
177 	brerun 		int 		Rerun number
178 	bcamcol 	int 		Camcol (1-6 on 2.5m mosaic camera)
179 	bfield 		int 		Field number
180 	bobj 		int 		object number within field
181 	zbsubclass 	char[32] 	specBS subclass
182 	zbelodiesptype 	char[32] 	specBS ELODIE best match template type
183 	lpar 		float/mag 	Newberg-Lenz "l" color, perpendicular to stellar locus, sensitive 
                                        to metalicity.
184 	spar 		float/mag 	Ivezic (modified) s color, principal component
185 	wpar 		float/mag 	Ivezic (modified) w color, principal component
186 	p1spar 		float/mag 	Ivezic perpendicular to s color,component
187 	zbclass 	char[32] 	SpecBS class
188 	zbrchi2 	float		SpecBS rchi2 reduced chi-square per dof
189 	zbdof 		float 		SpecBS dof measure for best fit template
190 	zbvdisp 	float/km/s 	SpecBS Velocity dispersion (only relevant for GALaxies, not for stars)
191 	zbvdisperr 	float/km/s 	SpecBS error in Velocity dispersion
192 	zbzwarning 	int 		SpecBS warning flag
193 	spec_cln 	char[32] 	Spectro1d(Chicago) classification 1= star, 6= red star, 0 = unknown
194 	sprv 		float/km/s 	Spectro1d(Chicago) pipeline RV (also valid for Galaxies computed as cz)
195 	sprverr 	float/km/s 	Spectro1d(Chicago) pipeline RV err
196 	vel_dis 	float/km/s 	Spectro1d(Chicago) Velocity dispersion (only relevant for GALaxies, 
                                        not for stars)
197 	vel_disperr 	float/km/s 	Spectro1d(Chicago) Velocity dispersion error
198 	spz_conf 	float 		Spectro1d(Chicago) redshift confidence
199 	spz_status 	int 		Spectro1d(Chicago) redshift status
200 	spz_warning 	int 		Spectro1d(Chicago) redshift warning
201 	eclass 		float 		Spectro1d(Chicago) Galaxy Principal component classification - 
                                        Andy Connolly
202 	ecoeff1 	float 		Spectro1d(Chicago) Principal component 1 (for Galaxies)
203 	ecoeff2 	float 		Spectro1d(Chicago) Principal component 2 (for Galaxies)
204 	ecoeff3 	float 		Spectro1d(Chicago) Principal component 3 (for Galaxies)
205 	ecoeff4 	float 		Spectro1d(Chicago) PC 4
206 	ecoeff5 	float 		Spectro1d PC5
207 	inspect 	int 		Inspection flag (0 = sspp not manually inspected, yet)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Try this query in the CAS to get a feel for the columns:

select top 10 * from seguedr6..sppLines

Here's a sample query which selects low metalicity stars ([Fe/H] < -3.5)
which have relatively small error bars on the abundance (err < 0.5 dex)
and which are brighter than 19th mag (dereddened) and where more than three
different measures of feh are ok and are averaged.

select sp.plate,sp.mjd,sp.fiberid,sp.g0,sp.gmr0,
        sl.caIIK,sl.caIIKerr,sl.caIIKmask,
        sp.feha,sp.fehaerr,sp.fehan,sp.logga,sp.loggaerr,sp.loggan 
                from sppLines as sl, sppParams as sp where
        feha < -3.5 and fehaerr between 0.01 and 0.5 and fehan > 3 
        and g0 < 19
        and sl.specobjid = sp.specobjid

(3 stars returned)


Last modified: Tue Jun 26 15:05:55 CEST 2007