The Sixth Data Release of the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) -- I:
  Survey Description, Spectra and Radial Velocities
  The Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) is a magnitude-limited (9<I<12)
spectroscopic survey of Galactic stars randomly selected in the southern
hemisphere. The RAVE medium-resolution spectra (R~7500) cover the Ca-triplet
region (8410-8795A). The 6th and final data release (DR6 or FDR) is based on
518387 observations of 451783 unique stars. RAVE observations were taken
between 12 April 2003 and 4 April 2013. Here we present the genesis, setup and
data reduction of RAVE as well as wavelength-calibrated and flux-normalized
spectra and error spectra for all observations in RAVE DR6. Furthermore, we
present derived spectral classification and radial velocities for the RAVE
targets, complemented by cross matches with Gaia DR2 and other relevant
catalogs. A comparison between internal error estimates, variances derived from
stars with more than one observing epoch and a comparison with radial
velocities of Gaia DR2 reveals consistently that 68% of the objects have a
velocity accuracy better than 1.4 km/s, while 95% of the objects have radial
velocities better than 4.0 km/s. Stellar atmospheric parameters, abundances and
distances are presented in subsequent publication. The data can be accessed via
the RAVE Web (http://rave-survey.org) or the Vizier database.
