  The high Antarctic plateau provides exceptional conditions for conducting
infrared observations of the cosmos on account of the cold, dry and stable
atmosphere above the ice surface. This paper describes the scientific goals
behind the first program to examine the time-varying universe in the infrared
from Antarctica - the Kunlun Infrared Sky Survey (KISS). This will employ a
small (50 cm aperture) telescope to monitor the southern skies in the 2.4um
Kdark window from China's Kunlun station at Dome A, on the summit of the
Antarctic plateau, through the uninterrupted 4-month period of winter darkness.
An earlier paper discussed optimisation of the Kdark filter for the best
sensitivity (Li et al 2016). This paper examines the scientific program for
KISS. We calculate the sensitivity of the camera for the extrema of observing
conditions that will be encountered. We present the parameters for sample
surveys that could then be carried out for a range of cadences and
sensitivities. We then discuss several science programs that could be conducted
with these capabilities, involving star formation, brown dwarfs and hot
Jupiters, exoplanets around M dwarfs, the terminal phases of stellar evolution,
discovering fast transients as part of multi-wavelength campaigns, embedded
supernova searches, reverberation mapping of active galactic nuclei, gamma ray
bursts and the detection of the cosmic infrared background.
  Accepted for publication in PASA, 04/08/16.
