News
Camera Trap Distance Sampling workshop 27-31 May 2024
23 March 2024Registration now open for the May 2024 Camera Trap Distance Sampling workshop. Registration deadline is 15th May 2024. In addition, the widening participation scholarship application period closes 8th April 2024.
Introductory workshop 04-15 March 2024
22 January 2024Registration now open for the March 2024 introductory distance sampling workshop. Registration deadline is 21 February 2024. In addition, the widening participation scholarship application period closes 24 January 2024.
Introductory workshop 04-15 March 2024
16 January 2024Accepting widening participation scholarship applications now; General registration open 22 January 2024
New CRAN release of mrds and Distance packages
04 January 2024We announce the release of mrds 2.3.0 and Distance 1.0.9 on CRAN. An important update is that the default encounter rate variance estimator for point transect surveys has now been changed from the ‘P3’ estimator to the ‘P2’ estimator. Please follow link for further details.
Introductory workshop 09-20 October 2023
14 August 2023Registration deadline approaching fast
New versions of Distance and mrds packages
03 August 2023We are pleased to announce the release of new versions of our R packages Distance and mrds. The new release adds the ability to fit detection functions (CDS and MCDS) using the same optimizer used by Distance for Windows.
Design workshop registration open
02 August 2023Registration is open for our online workshop on “Practical design and simulation to optimise distance sampling surveys”, to be taught from 28th - 31st August 2023.
Introductory workshop 10-21 July 2023
11 May 2023Accepting widening participation scholarship applications now; General registration open 23 May 2023
Introductory workshop 20-31 March 2023
27 January 2023Accepting widening participation scholarship applications now closed
Design and Simulation R packages
12 January 2023We would like to make you aware that our design and simulation packages (dssd and dsims) are temporarily only available from our development repository on github. Please follow link for instructions on installing them.
New versions of R packages
16 November 2022We are pleased to announce the imminent release of new versions of our R packages Distance and mrds. The information below will be particularly relevant to users of dht2. We recommend all users of these packages update to the newest versions.
Introductory workshop 09-20 January 2023
24 October 2022Registration is now open; closing on 30 November 2022
Release of Distance 7.5
07 September 2022We are pleased to announce the release of a new version of Distance for Windows, Distance 7.5. This version upgrades to use 64 bit R and also contains new versions of our R packages which are also now on CRAN.
Distance workshops autumn 2022
16 August 2022Registration is now open for our autumn online training workshops, on camera trap distance sampling, methods for when animals are missed on the trackline, and design and simulation.
Distance for Windows and R 4.2
06 June 2022This message is relevant for users of Distance for Windows who make use of the analysis engines that call R - that is the MRDS, DSM and MA analysis engines. Distance for Windows currently is not compatible with the latest version of R (4.2); we suggest a workaround and announce that we will be releasing a new version of Distance for Windows in August.
New Release of Distance 7.4
25 May 2022We announce the release of Distance 7.4 release 2. This unplanned interim release was deemed necessary to fix a bug relating to project creation of analyses involving cluster size and / or double observer data. We advise users to update Distance to this latest version, especially if Distance 7.4 release 1 has already been installed.
Bug and workaround for Distance 7.4
23 May 2022This bug affects you if you are
- starting a new Distance project and either
- animals occur in groups (group size is one of your data fields) or
- you have double observer data with the fields object, observer and detected
Never fear, there is a simple work around
New versions of R packages
17 March 2022We are pleased to announce the release of new versions of our R packages Distance, mrds, dsm and dsims. We recommend all users of these packages update to the newest versions.
Release of Distance 7.4
16 February 2022We 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.
Introductory workshop 11-22 April 2022
14 February 2022The University of St Andrews has been training ecologists and statisticians in design and analysis of distance sampling studies for decades. Perhaps you’ve wanted to attend but scheduling of workshops conflicted with your field work. 👨🌾
Widening participation scholarship applications being accepted for April 2022 introductory workshop
03 February 2022The introductory distance sampling training workshop will be offered 11-22 April 2022 via video conferencing (1500-1730UK time). Widening participation scholarship application deadline is 11 February 2022.
Further optimisation improvement details
01 August 2021The newest version of our R package mrds (2.2.5), used for fitting detection functions by Distance, has some improvements to its optimisation system. Here are some more details of recent changes and what you might need to watch out for.
mrds 2.2.5 and Distance 1.0.3
08 July 2021R packages mrds 2.2.5 and Distance 1.0.3 are now on CRAN.
Introductory workshop 20Sept - 01Oct 2021
29 June 2021The University of St Andrews has been training ecologists and statisticians in design and analysis of distance sampling studies for decades. Perhaps you’ve wanted to attend but scheduling of workshops conflicted with your field work. 👨🌾
Introductory workshop registration open
01 February 2021Introductory workshop, April 2021, registration open.
Examples page updated
20 January 2021Our examples website has been updated to be easier to use.
Practical design and simulation to optimise distance sampling surveys, March 2021
15 December 2020The online course “Practical design and simulation to optimise distance sampling surveys” will run 15-17 March 2021.
Spatially explicit models for distance sampling data, March 2021
14 December 2020The online course “Spatially explicit models for distance sampling data” will run 8-12 March 2021.
Preview of distance sampling training workshops for 2021
30 November 2020We are planning to offer a selection of introductory and more advanced/specialised workshops in 2021, via video conference. The first, on methods for when animals are missed at zero distance, will be on January 11-12, and registration is currently open.
Pairwise differences in density estimates
24 October 2020Often ecological questions extend beyond simply wanting an estimate of density in a study region. It is common for inference to extend to differences in density over time or space. A function to assess the significance of differences in density estimates exists in our examples library.
mrds 2.2.3 and Distance 1.0.1 now on CRAN
03 August 2020New versions of the Distance and mrds R packages are now available on CRAN. Thanks to all those who have taken the time to contact us and help out by reporting unusual behaviour or requesting features.
Remote distance sampling workshops August - Oct 2020
23 July 2020In August, September and October of 2020, we will be continuing our remote delivery of interactive distance sampling training workshops, with the following four workshops:
- mark-recapture distance sampling - 25th and 25th August (early evening UK time)
- introductory distance sampling - 7th - 18th September (early evening UK time)
- introductory distance sampling - 21st September - 2nd October (morning UK time)
- spatial modelling of distance sampling data - 5th - 9th October (early evening UK time)
For more information, please see the CREEM workshop webpages.
Distance 7.3 Release 2
07 July 2020We are pleased to announce an update to our Distance for Windows software: Distance 7.3 Release 2. The new release updates the R packages used by the MRDS, DSM and MA analysis engines, and the simulation engine, with bug fixes and compatibility with R 4.0. If you use any of these engines, we recommend you download the new release.
Remote distance sampling workshop additions
20 May 2020Consistent with social distancing and travel restrictions, we will be offering our distance sampling training workshops remotely. Details of some offerings are still being finalised, but as of this date, here are our forthcoming offerings:
mrds 2.2.2 now on CRAN
15 May 2020We’ve just uploaded mrds version 2.2.2 onto CRAN and it should now be available for all platforms. These changes impact both mrds and Distance users.
Distance sampling software development plans
27 April 2020This post provides an insight into our plans for development of both Windows and R-based software over the next few years.
Remote distance sampling workshop offerings
04 April 2020Consistent with social distancing and travel restrictions, we will be offering our distance sampling training workshops remotely. Details of some offerings are still being finalised, but as of this date, here are our forthcoming offerings:
2020 workshops update
25 March 2020As a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak registration for the August Distance Workshops in St Andrews has been suspended. We’ll provide a more detailed update by 3rd April.
Additional example analyses
10 March 2020Two situations where covariates provide the best solution to difficult analytical situations
Updates to two R packages and our website
04 February 2020The Distance Development software group has been busy
Distance sampling training workshops for 2020
21 January 2020Our 2020 training workshops will take place in St Andrews 17-28 August.
Distance sampling at the World Marine Mammal Conference
18 December 2019There was a special session at the WMMC on distance sampling. Slides are available here.