A Color-Excess Extinction map of the Southern Galactic disk from the VVV
  and GLIMPSE Surveys
  An improved high-resolution and deep A$_{Ks}$ foreground dust extinction map
is presented for the Galactic disk area within $295^{\circ} \lesssim l \lesssim
350^{\circ}$, $-1.0^{\circ} \lesssim b \lesssim +1.0^{\circ}$. At some
longitudes the map reaches up to $|b|\sim2.25^{\circ}$, for a total of
$\sim$148 deg$^2$. The map was constructed via the Rayleigh-Jeans Color Excess
(RJCE) technique based on deep near-infrared (NIR) and mid-infrared (MIR)
photometry. The new extinction map features a maximum bin size of 1', and
relies on NIR observations from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) and new
data from ESO's Vista Variables in the V\'ia L\'actea (VVV) survey, in concert
with MIR observations from the Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey
Extraordinaire (GLIMPSE). The VVV photometry penetrates $\sim$4 magnitudes
fainter than 2MASS, and provides enhanced sampling of the underlying stellar
populations in this heavily obscured region. Consequently, the new results
supersede existing RJCE maps tied solely to brighter photometry, revealing a
systematic underestimation of extinction in prior work that was based on
shallower data. The new high-resolution and large-scale extinction map
presented here is readily available to the community through a web query
interface.
