The selection function of the RAVE survey
  We characterize the selection function of RAVE using 2MASS as our underlying
population, which we assume represents all stars which could have potentially
been observed. We evaluate the completeness fraction as a function of position,
magnitude, and color in two ways: first, on a field-by-field basis, and second,
in equal-size areas on the sky. Then, we consider the effect of the RAVE
stellar parameter pipeline on the final resulting catalogue, which in principle
limits the parameter space over which our selection function is valid. Our
final selection function is the product of the completeness fraction and the
selection function of the pipeline. We then test if the application of the
selection function introduces biases in the derived parameters. To do this, we
compare a parent mock catalogue generated using Galaxia with a mock-RAVE
catalogue where the selection function of RAVE has been applied. We conclude
that for stars brighter than I = 12, between $4000 \rm K < T_{\rm eff} < 8000
\rm K$ and $0.5 < \rm{log}\,g < 5.0$, RAVE is kinematically and chemically
unbiased with respect to expectations from Galaxia.
