{"schema_version":1,"research_id":"eoa_inverse_innovation_exp05_external_evaluation_20260803","source_assessment_id":"negative_space_design__marine_science:P1:v0","cell_id":"negative_space_design__marine_science","search_queries":["active acoustic survey passive acoustic interference quiet period echosounder transmissions ambient noise","ICES underwater radiated noise research vessels switch off echo sounders ambient noise measurement","NOAA passive acoustic monitoring vessel noise active sonar interference","Simrad EK80 passive mode transmissions off documentation","research cruise acoustic quiet periods turn off echosounders passive acoustic monitoring protocol","marine research vessel 'acoustic quiet' schedule echosounder off hydrophone","simultaneous active passive acoustic monitoring echosounder interference scientific survey","echosounder passive mode ambient noise measurement scientific survey","UNOLS research vessel safety standards master authority scientific operations chief scientist 2025","UNOLS cruise planning chief scientist vessel master authority scientific equipment acoustic systems","site:hi.no CRIMAC cruise report 2025 passive acoustic hydrophone echosounders turned off","NOAA hydrographic survey acoustic interference echosounder shutdown report W00343","UNOLS 2026 ship day rates research vessel day rate 2026","2025 UNOLS ship day rate PDF operating days costs","NSF oceanographic research vessel day rate 2025 ship time cost","NOAA research vessel ship time cost per day acoustic survey","\"Best Practices for Implementing\" \"passive recordings\" echosounder TM 192","site:repository.library.noaa.gov \"passive recordings\" \"echosounder\"","site:kongsberg.com EK80 passive mode receive signals documentation","\"1-min passive data collection every 30-min\""],"sources":[{"source_id":"S1","title":"Simrad EK60 Scientific Echo Sounder Reference Manual, Release 2.4.X","publisher":"Kongsberg Maritime AS","url":"https://www.kongsberg.com/globalassets/kongsberg/1.-what-we-do/2.-ocean-space/2.-fish-findingsimrad/echo-sounders-and-adcp/ey60/operation/164692ad_ek60_reference_manual_english_lores-1.pdf","source_class":"OFFICIAL_PRODUCT_DOCUMENTATION","publication_date":"2012-02-23","accessed_at":"2026-08-03","claims_supported":["A commercial scientific echosounder already provides a passive mode in which transmission stops while reception and computation continue.","The manufacturer identifies ambient-background measurement, separation of echoes from noise, and detection of other vessel hydroacoustic systems as uses of passive mode.","Raw records carry time/date information, supporting synchronized analysis."]},{"source_id":"S2","title":"K-Sync Synchronization Unit Operator Manual, Revision B","publisher":"Kongsberg Maritime AS","url":"https://www.kongsberg.com/contentassets/1e171f0a51264694b7bd957d8d9da705/342435ab_k-sync_operator-manual.pdf","source_class":"OFFICIAL_PRODUCT_DOCUMENTATION","publication_date":"2021-01","accessed_at":"2026-08-03","claims_supported":["Commercial shipboard hardware already schedules multiple echosounders using trigger groups, transmit commands, ready-to-transmit feedback, and transmit-status feedback.","Operators can disable individual sounders without changing the group schedule.","The controller estimates or observes completion of ping cycles and provides status and timing displays, establishing feasibility and close controller prior art."]},{"source_id":"S3","title":"Dataset for concurrent echosounder and ADCP measurements at a tidal energy candidate site in Australia","publisher":"Data in Brief / Elsevier","url":"https://aslenv.com/assets/files/Science%20Direct%20Data%20in%20Brief%2031%202020%20105873.pdf","source_class":"PRIMARY_RESEARCH","publication_date":"2020","accessed_at":"2026-08-03","claims_supported":["A field deployment programmed one minute of passive recording every 30 minutes while retaining reception and used distinct file naming to identify active and passive samples.","The passive samples were used to assess background and system noise and informed post-processing.","This is close prior art for predetermined, labeled, recurring no-transmission reference intervals."]},{"source_id":"S4","title":"Report of the SPRFMO Task Group on Fishing Vessels as Scientific Platforms, 2014–2015","publisher":"South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation","url":"https://www.sprfmo.int/assets/Meetings/Meetings-2013-plus/SC-Meetings/3rd-SC-Meeting-2015/Papers/SC-03-11a-Acoustic-Task-group-1st-workshop-report.pdf","source_class":"OFFICIAL_ORGANIZATION_DATA","publication_date":"2015","accessed_at":"2026-08-03","claims_supported":["Other echosounders and sonars can create discrete spikes and cross-talk in scientific acoustic records.","The report recommends identifying and shutting down the interfering source, or synchronizing safety-essential acoustical instrumentation.","It states that post-processing removal can be difficult and that eliminating interference during collection is preferable."]},{"source_id":"S5","title":"CRIMAC Cruise Report 2025","publisher":"Institute of Marine Research, Norway","url":"https://www.hi.no/en/hi/nettrapporter/toktrapport-en-2026-13","source_class":"OFFICIAL_ORGANIZATION_DATA","publication_date":"2026","accessed_at":"2026-08-03","claims_supported":["A recent research-vessel trial compared normal operations with conditions in which echosounders, trawl gear, and other systems were turned off.","The trial used synchronized hull-mounted passive-acoustic recording across controlled speeds and configurations.","Vessel noise still dominated below about 100 Hz and at high speed, demonstrating both the problem and a major intervention falsifier: transmitter quiet may not remove the limiting noise."]},{"source_id":"S6","title":"NOAA Descriptive Report W00343: Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary, Santa Rosa Island","publisher":"National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration","url":"https://data.ngdc.noaa.gov/platforms/ocean/nos/coast/W00001-W02000/W00343/DR/W00343_DR.pdf","source_class":"GOVERNMENT_OR_REGULATOR","publication_date":"2016","accessed_at":"2026-08-03","claims_supported":["NOAA observed unexplained frequency-specific interference during an operational survey.","Passive broadband hydrophones helped identify an active trawl-measurement transmitter that continued operating when nominally off.","The interference was resolved by securing power, showing that nominal control state alone is insufficient and verified transmit-state metadata has operational value."]},{"source_id":"S7","title":"Research Vessel Safety Standards, 11th Edition","publisher":"University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System","url":"https://www.unols.org/sites/default/files/RVSS_11thEd-12Nov2021.pdf","source_class":"STANDARD","publication_date":"2021-11","accessed_at":"2026-08-03","claims_supported":["The vessel master has ultimate legal authority over vessel operations, personnel, and urgent decisions.","The chief scientist coordinates and executes the scientific mission but must defer to the master on safety.","This supports the proposed division between scientific approval and immediate master override, while leaving vessel-specific permits and procedures to local review."]},{"source_id":"S8","title":"Ship Usage Rates","publisher":"Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego","url":"https://scripps.ucsd.edu/ships/planning/ship-rates","source_class":"OFFICIAL_ORGANIZATION_DATA","publication_date":"2026","accessed_at":"2026-08-03","claims_supported":["Research-vessel charges can include crew, fuel, food, standard technical services, and port logistics.","Additional equipment and technical support may incur separate charges.","Operational and mobilization time is billed in whole-day increments for the listed vessels, so an aperture trial that creates an incremental ship day can change cost discontinuously and requires a vessel-specific quote."]}],"problem_evidence":{"support":"STRONG","rationale":"Independent operational and official sources visibly document cross-talk, unexpected transmissions, vessel self-noise, and difficulty removing interference after collection. NOAA found an allegedly off system still transmitting, while IMR found that even deliberate equipment shutdown did not eliminate low-frequency vessel noise. The problem exists, but its limiting source and scientific importance are vessel-, frequency-, target-, and speed-specific.","source_ids":["S4","S5","S6"]},"stakeholder_evidence":{"support":"MODERATE","rationale":"NOAA and IMR are identifiable research-vessel operators that have used passive hydrophones, transmitter shutdown, and controlled quiet-versus-normal comparisons. SPRFMO explicitly calls for interference elimination during acquisition. These actions demonstrate institutional pull for clean acoustic references, but no source requests the proposal's complete controller-plus-heartbeat-plus-recovery package or commits funding for it.","source_ids":["S4","S5","S6","S7"]},"prior_art":{"proximity":"SUBSTANTIAL_COLLISION","closest_analogues":[{"name":"Programmed one-minute passive samples every 30 minutes","similarity":"Predetermined no-transmission intervals continued receiving, were distinguishable by file naming, and supplied background/system-noise references.","remaining_difference":"The deployment was a moored instrument rather than a research-vessel-wide controller with segment eligibility, safety override, omitted-work recovery, and blinded passive-event interpretation.","source_ids":["S3"]},{"name":"CRIMAC normal-versus-systems-off vessel trial","similarity":"A research vessel deliberately turned off echosounders and other equipment, retained passive recording, and compared controlled operating configurations.","remaining_difference":"The report does not describe controller-protected recurring apertures, a continuous planned-quiet heartbeat, recovery of omitted survey pings, or a blinded matched-interval endpoint.","source_ids":["S5"]},{"name":"Simrad passive mode","similarity":"The transmitter is disabled while reception continues specifically to measure ambient background and discriminate noise from target echoes.","remaining_difference":"It is a single-system operating mode, not a multi-system cruise workflow with eligibility rules, master override, verified state metadata, and active-coverage accounting.","source_ids":["S1"]},{"name":"K-Sync and survey-source shutdown/synchronization practice","similarity":"Existing controllers coordinate transmit timing and feedback across sounders; official survey practice recommends shutting down nonessential interference and synchronizing essential acoustic systems.","remaining_difference":"The documented controller optimizes ping scheduling rather than reserving longer passive-observation apertures, and the guidance does not evaluate whether labeled absence improves passive scientific interpretation relative to continuous active operation.","source_ids":["S2","S4","S6"]}],"distinctive_claim_remaining":"Within scientifically eligible vessel-survey segments, a multi-system controller that verifies a ringdown-cleared, explicitly heartbeat-labeled quiet state and preserves an auditable recovery plan will improve blinded estimation of contemporaneous ambient level and classification of weak natural events versus matched continuous-active intervals, without exceeding preregistered active-coverage loss or causing unsafe or ambiguous state transitions. Each outcome and constraint is falsifiable; the claim does not extend to general passive-mode recording or transmitter shutdown.","confidence":"HIGH"},"implementation_evidence":{"support":"STRONG","rationale":"The principal technical primitives already exist: receive-while-not-transmitting modes, external triggering, grouped scheduling, transmit feedback, disable/standby states, timestamps, passive hydrophones, and shipboard controlled shutdowns. Integration remains nontrivial because a nominally off device may still transmit, different systems expose different interfaces, acoustic decay is environment-dependent, and a heartbeat must be independent enough to distinguish planned quiet from controller or logging failure. Workflow authority is credible when the chief scientist coordinates science and the master retains absolute safety authority. Vessel-specific permits, mitigation obligations, restart behavior, cybersecurity, and configuration-control approval remain unverified.","source_ids":["S1","S2","S5","S6","S7"]},"scores":{"meaningful_impact":{"score":3,"rationale":"Clean contemporaneous references could materially improve passive-record interpretation and prevent irrecoverable masking, but the benefit is confined to surveys where active transmissions—not propulsion, flow, weather, or sensor limits—are the dominant constraint.","source_ids":["S4","S5","S6"]},"stakeholder_pull":{"score":3,"rationale":"NOAA, IMR, and SPRFMO visibly perform or recommend related actions, but expressed demand and funding for the complete proposal were not found.","source_ids":["S4","S5","S6"]},"incremental_advantage":{"score":2,"rationale":"Periodic passive samples, transmitter-off comparisons, passive operating modes, synchronized controllers, and acquisition-time shutdown are already documented. Advantage rests on tighter integration and evaluation, not a new underlying practice.","source_ids":["S1","S2","S3","S4","S5"]},"distinctiveness_plausibility":{"score":3,"rationale":"The controller-verified heartbeat, ringdown boundary, recovery ledger, and blinded passive-science endpoint form a contrastive package not found in the eight sources, although each major component has close analogues.","source_ids":["S1","S2","S3","S5","S6"]},"technical_implementability":{"score":4,"rationale":"Commercial documentation establishes control, feedback, disable, passive-receive, and timing capabilities, while field reports show practical shutdown comparisons. Heterogeneous legacy systems and false off-states prevent a maximum score.","source_ids":["S1","S2","S5","S6"]},"adoption_authority_feasibility":{"score":4,"rationale":"The chief-scientist/master relationship supplies a credible approval and override structure. Vessel operator, permit holder, and system owner approvals remain deployment-specific.","source_ids":["S7"]},"evidence_readiness":{"score":4,"rationale":"Matched intervals, synchronized logs, blinded excerpts, contamination metrics, restart audits, and active-coverage accounting are all bounded and measurable with existing equipment. The decisive evidence has not yet been collected.","source_ids":["S1","S2","S3","S5","S6"]},"safety_net_benefit":{"score":4,"rationale":"A short preapproved aperture is reversible, can retain navigation and required mitigation systems, and can terminate on master override. The main residual risks are hidden dependencies, restart failures, ambiguous metadata, and unrecoverable active-coverage gaps.","source_ids":["S2","S6","S7"]},"scalability":{"score":3,"rationale":"The protocol can be replicated where sounders expose external controls and status, but vessel configurations, permits, target frequencies, ringdown, schedules, and billing rules require local validation.","source_ids":["S2","S5","S7","S8"]}},"score_confidence":"MODERATE","costs":{"first_evidence":{"band_2026_usd":"10K_TO_50K","scope":"Protocol design, pre-cruise interface review, one short matched trial embedded in an already funded noncritical cruise block, log assembly, blinded analyst review, and coverage/safety audit.","confidence":"LOW","assumptions":["No incremental ship or mobilization day is created.","Existing hydrophone, echosounder controls, synchronization, and data-storage systems are used.","Approximately 100–300 combined staff hours cover planning, vessel coordination, analysis, and reporting.","A vessel-specific quote could move this to 50K_TO_250K because ship time is charged in whole-day increments."],"source_ids":["S5","S8"]},"initial_deployment_startup":{"band_2026_usd":"50K_TO_250K","scope":"Engineer and validate a one-vessel controller profile, independent heartbeat, user interface, fail-safe restoration, configuration documentation, simulated fault tests, operator training, and local safety/procedure approval.","confidence":"LOW","assumptions":["Existing K-Sync-like hardware and network interfaces can be reused.","No new hull penetrations, hydrophone array, or replacement transceivers are required.","One vessel and a bounded set of noncritical research transmitters are integrated.","Formal certification or major cybersecurity remediation is excluded."],"source_ids":["S1","S2","S6","S7"]},"operational_launch":{"band_2026_usd":"250K_TO_1M","scope":"Harden the system and protocol for routine use across several cruise configurations, add monitored adapters for heterogeneous sounders, validate restart and fault handling, establish data schemas and audit tooling, train watchstanders, and run multiple acceptance cruises.","confidence":"LOW","assumptions":["Launch covers roughly two to four vessels or materially different configurations.","Existing passive sensors and vessel networks remain serviceable.","Several incremental sea or mobilization days may be required.","Permit amendments, class approval, or substantial new acoustic hardware could exceed this band."],"source_ids":["S2","S6","S7","S8"]},"annual_recurring":{"band_2026_usd":"50K_TO_250K","scope":"Configuration maintenance, software support, pre-cruise review, operator refresher training, log-quality audits, analyst time, and a limited allowance for schedule displacement or repeated validation.","confidence":"LOW","assumptions":["No dedicated cruise is funded solely for apertures.","Most apertures fit inside existing cruise time.","One or more incremental whole ship-days would materially increase annual cost.","The estimate excludes replacement hydrophones, major controller hardware refresh, and recovery surveys caused by excessive active-data loss."],"source_ids":["S7","S8"]}},"verified_pipeline_gates":{"externally_supported_problem":{"status":"YES","reason":"Official and operational sources directly document acoustic cross-talk, unexplained active emissions, vessel-noise masking, and acquisition-time remediation.","source_ids":["S4","S5","S6"]},"externally_credible_adopter_or_authorizer":{"status":"YES","reason":"NOAA and IMR are credible operators already conducting analogous passive and shutdown work, while UNOLS standards identify the chief scientist and vessel master as scientific coordinator and final operational authority.","source_ids":["S5","S6","S7"]},"distinct_testable_incremental_claim":{"status":"YES","reason":"The remaining claim compares controller-verified and explicitly labeled apertures with matched continuous-active intervals on blinded interpretability and prespecified active-coverage, restart, metadata, and safety constraints.","source_ids":["S1","S2","S3","S5","S6"]},"bounded_next_evidence_step":{"status":"YES","reason":"A single noncritical block with preregistered eligibility, matched comparators, synchronized logs, blinded excerpts, and explicit falsifiers is operationally bounded.","source_ids":["S3","S5","S6","S7"]},"no_unresolved_safety_or_authority_stop":{"status":"YES","reason":"The proposed first step preserves safety-critical systems, requires preapproval, and gives the vessel master immediate overriding authority. This does not establish compliance for any particular permit or vessel; local review remains mandatory before testing.","source_ids":["S7"]},"credible_cost_scope_and_range":{"status":"UNCERTAIN","reason":"The resource scopes and discontinuous ship-day risk are identifiable, but published vessel-specific rates, interface-engineering estimates, and vendor/operator quotations were not obtained. All four bands therefore depend on stated assumptions and have low confidence.","source_ids":["S2","S8"]}},"next_evidence_step":"On one partner vessel, use one already funded noncritical survey or transit block and preregister: eligible segment boundaries; muted research sources; empirically measured source-specific ringdown; 5–15 minute aperture durations; continuous-active comparator intervals matched on location, speed, machinery state, sea state, and time; master/operator abort rules; metadata schema; and maximum allowable active-coverage loss. Randomize or counterbalance ordinary and aperture intervals where operationally permissible. Collect raw hydrophone, trigger, ready-to-transmit, actual-transmit, vessel-state, navigation, safety-override, and heartbeat logs. Give blinded, shuffled excerpts to at least two passive-acoustic analysts. Primary comparisons are ambient-level estimation repeatability, correct interval-state classification, weak-event detection/classification agreement, and contamination occupancy. Separately audit missed active samples, restart latency/failure, false-off emissions, heartbeat completeness, overrides, and recoverability. Falsify advancement if apertures do not materially reduce contamination or improve blinded interpretation; if machinery/environmental noise remains limiting; if analysts confuse quiet with fault/dropout; or if active loss, restart behavior, safety, permit compliance, or rescheduling exceeds preregistered limits.","blocking_evidence":["No matched onboard data show that active research transmissions, rather than machinery, flow, environmental noise, hydrophone placement, or sensitivity, are the limiting source for the intended passive targets.","No live test demonstrates that the heartbeat and actual-transmit feedback reliably distinguish planned quiet, false-off transmission, equipment fault, emergency shutdown, and missing data.","No blinded analysis shows improved ambient-baseline or weak-event interpretation over matched continuous-active intervals and ordinary post-processing.","No vessel-specific engineering review confirms compatible control interfaces, safe restart behavior, independent override, and cybersecurity/configuration approval.","No permit, mitigation-plan, bridge-procedure, and vessel-operator review confirms which acoustic systems may legally and safely be muted.","No empirical accounting establishes acceptable active-survey coverage loss, spatial bias, recovery feasibility, and schedule impact.","No operator or vendor quotations validate the four cost bands, particularly the possibility of incremental whole ship-days."],"research_disposition":"PARTNERED_RESEARCH_PROGRAM","world_novelty_boundary":"The search found substantial collisions in scheduled passive intervals, passive echosounder modes, multi-sounder synchronization controllers, acquisition-time transmitter shutdown, and quiet-versus-normal vessel trials. It did not establish whether the exact controller-verified, heartbeat-labeled, ringdown-bounded, recoverable vessel-wide package has previously been deployed or tested. World novelty, patentability, freedom to operate, market size, and realized impact remain unmeasured.","arm":"COMPLETE_PROPOSAL_PORTFOLIO","candidate_version":0,"controller_recommendation":{"action":"STOP_EMPIRICAL_RESEARCH_NEEDED","repairable":false,"material_progress_observed":false,"progress_targets":["Obtain a named vessel-operator and chief-scientist agreement for one preapproved noncritical matched trial.","Measure source-specific ringdown and establish which active systems dominate contamination under eligible operating states.","Demonstrate reliable actual-transmit and heartbeat logs across planned quiet, false-off, fault, abort, and restart scenarios.","Show preregistered improvement in blinded ambient-reference and weak-event interpretation versus continuous-active and post-processed comparators.","Demonstrate that active-coverage loss, spatial bias, restart behavior, overrides, permit compliance, and recovery remain within prespecified limits.","Obtain vessel-specific engineering, analyst-labor, and incremental ship-time quotations to validate the cost bands."],"reason":"Bounded web research establishes a real problem, credible actors, feasible components, and substantial prior-art collision. It cannot answer the remaining causal claim: whether the integrated aperture protocol improves passive scientific interpretation without unacceptable survey, workflow, legal, or safety costs. That evidence requires proprietary vessel configuration review and a live matched field trial, so the controller must stop for empirical research; under the required rule, this STOP is not marked repairable."},"proposal_index":1}