Amy Mainzer (LPL, U. Arizona) -- Near-Earth Asteroid and Comet Surveys: Current and Future Efforts

At present, the majority of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) larger than 1 km have been discovered; such objects are capable of causing mass extinctions. Current efforts now focus on identifying NEAs larger than approximately 100 m, and the majority of these have yet to be discovered. While a handful of 1-2 meter-class telescopes dominate the numbers of NEA discoveries, they are augmented by a network of observers around the world who contribute valuable follow-up observations enabling physical characterization and ensuring that objects can be recovered at future apparitions. Future efforts to improve discovery rates, orbit quality, and measurements of parameters such as size and albedo will depend on the availability and efficiency of large-aperture wide-area surveys.