A Search for Mass Loss from Metal-Poor Field Red Giants using Data from theWISEandAKARISatellites

All-sky photometry from theWISEandAKARIsatellite observatories has been used to obtain mid-infrared photometry in the 4–20 μm range for a sample of almost 400 red giants with metallicities of [Fe/H] ≤ -0.6. The mid-infrared photometry has been combined withJandK S 2MASS photometry to produce a series of two-color diagrams from which stars having circumstellar dust can be identified, namely (K S - W3,K S - W4) and (W1 - W3,W1 - W4) derived fromWISEdata and an analogous (K S - S9W,K S - L18W) diagram based onAKARIphotometry. All three diagrams exhibit sequences of giants that are candidates for having circumstellar dust. Of the 8 metal-poor giants with the greatest mid-infrared excesses all but one are known to be in advanced stages of evolution, and are typically pulsating variables. Among giants with more modest evidence of emission in theWISE W3 bandpass, i.e., stars with 0.2