BGPS. XII. DR2 distance catalog

We additionally present a new method for incorporating extant data sets into our Bayesian distance probability density function (DPDF) methodology. To augment the dense-gas tracers (e.g., HCO^+^(3-2), NH_3_(1,1)) used to derive line-of-sight velocities for kinematic distances, we utilize the Galactic Ring Survey (GRS) ^13^CO(1-0) data to morphologically extract velocities for BGPS sources.

The outline of a BGPS source is used to select a region of the GRS ^13^CO data, along with a reference region to subtract enveloping diffuse emission, to produce a line profile of ^13^CO matched to the BGPS source. For objects with a HCO^+^(3-2) velocity, ~95% of the new ^13^CO(1-0) velocities agree with that of the dense gas. A new prior DPDF for kinematic distance ambiguity (KDA) resolution, based on a validated formalism for associating molecular cloud structures with known objects from the literature, is presented.