SimSurvey

SimSurvey simulates and analyzes sample surveys of spatially-correlated, age-structured populations to evaluate sampling designs and estimate stratified means and variances for ecological studies such as fisheries stock assessment.

Key Features:

• Simulation of Age-Structured Populations: Generates simulations of age-structured, spatially-correlated populations with temporal variability to produce realistic virtual populations.
• Flexible Sampling Protocols: Supports built-in and user-defined sampling protocols to test a wide range of survey designs.
• Analysis of Stratified Data: Estimates stratified means and variances from simulated survey data.
• Identification of Bias Sources: Uses simulation to identify unexpected sources of bias in sampling designs.
• Design-Based Solutions Exploration: Enables testing of alternative design-based strategies to mitigate biases or inefficiencies revealed by simulations.

Scientific Applications:

• Ecological spatial-temporal studies: Evaluating population dynamics across space and time for spatially distributed populations.
• Fisheries stock assessment: Optimizing sampling strategies and survey designs for fish stocks, including evaluation of multi-stage sampling scenarios.
• Survey design optimization: Comparing alternative sampling strategies to improve precision and reduce costs associated with correlated metrics.

Methodology:

SimSurvey creates virtual spatially-correlated, age-structured populations from user-specified parameters for age structure, spatial distribution, and temporal changes, applies built-in or user-defined sampling protocols to those simulations, and computes stratified means and variances for statistical evaluation of sampling performance.