Distance is a software package for fitting detection functions to distance sampling data from line and point transects. Developed by David Miller at the University of Oxford, it supports adjustment term selection, truncation, monotonicity constraints, and binning. The package can also calculate abundance and density estimates using a Horvitz-Thompson-like estimator when survey area information is provided.
Use Cases
- Fit detection functions for line transect surveys based on the described distance sampling methods.
- Estimate wildlife abundance and density based on survey area information and the Horvitz-Thompson-like estimator.
- Apply monotonicity constraints and truncation to detection function models as mentioned in the description.
- Perform adjustment term selection for model fitting as supported by the package.
Strengths
- Supports both line and point transect survey designs.
- Implements methods described in a peer-reviewed journal article (Miller et al., 2019).
- Includes features for model refinement like truncation, monotonicity constraints, and binning.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
Provenance
- Source
- University of Oxford
- Collection Method
- Software package for statistical analysis of ecological survey data.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Last updated date is unknown.
- Geography
- null