A Test of the Accuracy of Line and Strip Transect Estimators in Aerial Survey

Abstract

The accuracy and precision of eight line transect estimators and one strip transect estimator were examined by helicopter aerial survey. Carcasses of feral pigs were counted in an area of treeless floodplain and Eucalyptus woodland. The ratio and Cox's methods, Fourier series, exponential power series, half-normal, exponential polynomial, negative exponential, hermite polynomial and hazard rate estimators gave accurate estimates. Using the survey method described, most estimators were of similar accuracy and precision, but the Fourier series estimator was the most accurate.