Schematic of the Galaxy showing the region covered by ATLASGAL. The background image is an artist impression of the Galactic plane, and it incorporates much of what is known about the large-scale structure of the Galaxy and shows the location of the spiral arms and the Galactic bar. The solar circle is shown in by the dashed cyan line and the region of the Galaxy covered by the ATLASGAL survey shown by the light brown shading. Background image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC/Caltech).