Release of Distance 7.4

Posted 16 February 2022 by Laura Marshall

We are pleased to announce the release of a new version of Distance for Windows, Distance 7.4. This version features some enhancements to facilitate the analysis of camera trap distance sampling (CTDS) data.

These enhancements include:

• new Project Setup Wizard option to create projects tailored for CTDS analysis
• ability to incorporate uncertainty in multipliers via non-parametric bootstrap
• new model selection criterion: QAIC
• new chapter in the online help documenting how to undertake CTDS analysis
• new sample project illustrating CTDS analysis of duiker data

The ability to incorporate uncertainty in multipliers via the bootstrap is general, and so potentially of use in other applications. It requires the user to import a set of bootstrap replicate values for each multiplier. For more details, see the Distance help.

There are a few other minor improvements and bug fixes. We have also taken the opportunity to include the latest version of the R packages underlying the MRDS, DSM and MA analysis engines, and the simulation functionality.

One important aspect of CTDS analysis is determining the proportion of time animals are active during the diurnal period of the survey. To facilitate analysis of activity data, we have built a graphical, web-based interface to the activity package in R. Please follow this Activity Interface link to access this.

We thank the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) for a grant that enabled the design of the new CTDS functionality. We had previously undertaken to maintain Distance for Windows but not to add new functionality – the increasing use of distance sampling in camera trap applications, and the generous support of WCS changed our mind!

Download Distance 7.4

Follow this link for more information on downloading Distance 7.4