Muxlow, T.W.B.Thomson, A.P.Radcliffe, Jack FrederickWrigley, N.H.Beswick, R.J.Smail, IanMcHardy, I.M.Garrington, S.T.Ivison, R.J.Jarvis, M.J.Prandoni, I.Bondi, M.Guidetti, D.Argo, M.K.Bacon, DavidBest, P.N.Biggs, A.D.Chapman, S.C.Coppin, K.Chen, H.Garratt, T.K.Garrett, M.A.Ibar, E.Kneib, Jean-PaulKnudsen, Kirsten K.Koopmans, L.V.E.Morabito, L.K.Murphy, E.J.Njeri, AnnPearson, ChrisPerez-Torres, M.A.Richards, A.M.S.Rottgering, H.J.A.Sargent, M.T.Serjeant, StephenSimpson, C.Simpson, J.M.Swinbank, A.M.Varenius, E.Venturi, T.2020-12-232020-12-232020-06Muxlow, T.W.B., Thomson, A.B., Radcliffe, J.F. et al. 2020, 'The e-MERGE Survey (e-MERLIN Galaxy Evolution Survey): overview and survey description', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 495, no. 1, pp. 1188-1208.0035-8711 (print)1365-2966 (online)10.1093/mnras/staa1279http://hdl.handle.net/2263/77493We present an overview and description of the e-MERGE Survey (e-MERLIN Galaxy Evolution Survey) Data Release 1 (DR1), a large program of high-resolution 1.5-GHz radio observations of the GOODS-N field comprising ∼140 h of observations with enhanced-Multi-Element Remotely Linked Interferometer Network (e-MERLIN) and ∼40 h with the Very Large Array (VLA). We combine the long baselines of e-MERLIN (providing high angular resolution) with the relatively closely packed antennas of the VLA (providing excellent surface brightness sensitivity) to produce a deep 1.5-GHz radio survey with the sensitivity (∼1.5 μ Jy beam−1), angular resolution (0.2–0.7 arcsec) and field-of-view (∼15 × 15 arcmin2) to detect and spatially resolve star-forming galaxies and active galactic nucleus (AGN) at z 1. The goal of e-MERGE is to provide new constraints on the deep, sub-arcsecond radio sky which will be surveyed by SKA1-mid. In this initial publication, we discuss our data analysis techniques, including steps taken to model in-beam source variability over an ∼20-yr baseline and the development of new point spread function/primary beam models to seamlessly merge e-MERLIN and VLA data in the uv plane. We present early science results, including measurements of the luminosities and/or linear sizes of ∼500 galaxies selected at 1.5 GHz. In combination with deep Hubble Space Telescope observations, we measure a mean radio-to-optical size ratio of re-MERGE/rHST ∼ 1.02 ± 0.03, suggesting that in most high-redshift galaxies, the ∼GHz continuum emission traces the stellar light seen in optical imaging. This is the first in a series of papers that will explore the ∼kpc-scale radio properties of star-forming galaxies and AGN in the GOODS-N field observed by e-MERGE DR1.en© 2020 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).GalaxiesEvolution – GalaxiesHigh-redshift – radio continuumGalaxiese-MERLIN Galaxy Evolution Survey (e-MERGE Survey)Very large array (VLA)Active galactic nucleus (AGN)Data release 1 (DR1)Article