Survey Design

In designing an acoustic survey, the tenets of good survey design should be followed.  Here we expand upon guidelines outlined by Scheaffer et al. (1996) and guidance provided by Rivoirard et al. (2000) and Simmonds and MacLennan (2005) in choosing among different statistical analysis techniques.

 

Defining objectives

Target species or groups

Survey timing

Seasonal

Diel

Moon phase

Survey components

Areal survey

Stationary sounding

Trawling

Environmental data

Supplementary information

Time budget

Sampling effort

Estimates of quality

   Degree of coverage

   Standard error

Analysis expectations

Types of survey designs

Simple random sampling with parallel transects

Systematic sampling with parallel transects

Stratified sampling with systematic samples nested within strata

Zig-zag design with parallel zigs and parallel zags

Logistics of survey design

Design modification during survey