How we measure

The claims ladder

Every performance statement we publish is traceable to one of five rungs, and its wording has to match the rung:

1. Measured on this water. "At [site], dissolved oxygen rose from X to Y between [date] and [date]", with the site, dates, sensor model, and calibration record available. Our default and our strongest rung.
2. Demonstrated in published research. Always with the citation. Never "studies show" without one.
3. Consistent with published research. For mechanism explanations where our own longitudinal data doesn't exist yet. Phrased as mechanism, never as an outcome promise.
4. What we expect, stated as expectation. Ranges plus verification ("most ponds show measurable change in 2-4 weeks; we'll know where yours falls because we'll be measuring it"). Never point promises.
5. What we don't know, said plainly. In this category, a visible rung five is worth more than a confident guess.

Station protocol

Readings come from fixed stations, profiled top to bottom, at consistent hours. Photographs follow the same discipline: same station, same focal length, same hour of day, timestamp burned into the frame, no color grading beyond the global photo standard, minimum interval disclosed. A photo without a number is a claim we can't stand behind, so every published image carries its metric, date, or place.

The before/after standard

A before/after pair publishes only with the before date, the after date, and the paired metric. Our components literally refuse to render without them. Violating this standard is treated internally as a publish-blocking failure rather than a style issue.

Sensors and calibration

Every installation is instrumented from day one, so the baseline is measured rather than remembered. Specific sensor models and calibration cadences will be listed here as our first installations publish their records; we won't name hardware we haven't run in the field. Dissolved oxygen is reported in mg/L to one decimal, clarity as Secchi depth, and every case study carries a methodology footer linking back to this page.

What didn't move

Every case study we publish includes the metric that lagged and why we think so. If a curve isn't moving, the customer hears it from us first, and so does anyone reading the file at results.