Introduction

The current widely used all-sky or large-area surveys of the Galactic HI distribution are the Bell-Telephone resolution survey (Stark et al. 1992) and those at using the 25-m telescopes (Weaver & Williams 1973, Heiles & Habing 1974, Hartmann & Burton 1996). These surveys have been used for many purposes including, for example, the calculation of Galactic optical absorption, comparison with IRAS IR distributions and studies of the intermediate scale ISM structure. The benefit of a higher resolution large-area survey at 12' as would be produced by the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank using the multibeam system would be immense. This paper describes some programmes of HI observations at this resolution which address a variety of astrophysical issues.

© Copyright Astronomical Society of Australia 1997