JWST-SPRING (Spatially Pixel-level Resolved Investigations into Nascent Galaxies with the James Webb Space Telescope) is a major public science program designed to provide the astronomical community with large-area, homogeneous, deep imaging data from the JWST NIRCam+MIRI, as well as spectroscopic data from NIRSpec and NIRCam/WFSS, precisely matched with the Hubble Space Telescope UVIS+ACS+WFC3/IR imaging and/or slitless spectroscopic data. These homogeneous JWST+HST coverages from near-ultraviolet to mid-infrared multi-wavelength, high-resolution imaging and spectroscopic data make a wealth of extragalactic science possible at the pixel level. 

Our pixel-level homogenized JWST data will cover all deep extragalactic survey observations of the HST, including all five CANDELS fields (COSMOS, EGS, GOODS-South, GOODS-North, and UDS), the larger COSMOS field, and many other smaller areas, with a total sky coverage area approaching 1 square degree, and the number of measured galaxies will reach the order of millions. These homogenized JWST+HST data will enable us to advance the spatially resolved studies of large galaxy samples to redshifts around z=7. Research topics include but are not limited to: the physical nature of galaxy morphology and structure, color and stellar population gradients, the cosmic web and the role of environments, co-evolution of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and their host galaxies, strong lensing by galaxies and clusters. Additionally, we will utilize artificial intelligence (A.I.) technology to enhance research on galaxy formation and evolution in the JWST era.

The concept of this program originated from previous deep extragalactic surveys conducted by the HST, such as CANDELS, which were fragmented into multiple independent projects within the observation planning for the JWST. Each of these projects was responsible for data processing and release, leading to significant disparities in the quality of JWST data across different fields. This, in turn, impacted the consistency in quality of the generated data products, including scientific images and spectra, photometric catalogs, particularly in terms of WCS calibration and instrumental effect corrections. In response to these challenges, we have assembled a collaborative team that, after two years of hard work, started from the raw data to implement homogenized processing of the JWST extragalactic deep field survey data and achieved high-precision matching with existing HST observational data. We will be progressively releasing all scientific data and software to the community, along with a wealth of higher-level data products.