Census of the Galaxy: Challenges for Photometry and Spectrometry with GAIA

the long version

The book contains the highlights from the first full-scale Meeting of the GAIA Photometry Working Group. It brings up-to-date information on the current status in the development of the ESA's astrometric space mission GAIA, emphasizing on the design and optimization of the GAIA's photometric instrument. Also covered are selected topics dealing with the strategies for the evaluation of the photometric systems, photometric classification procedure, the application of the photometric systems for studying Galactic structure and evolution with GAIA. The book will be especially interesting for researchers involved in the astronomical photometry, as well as for a more general audience interested in the astrophysical applications of the space astrometry and photometry.