Use this skill when a figure, parameter, or method comes from underwater acoustics, even if the implementation is pure Python.
Non-negotiable conventions
- Treat depth as positive downward. Ocean plots should normally show the surface at the top and deeper values lower on the page.
- Keep source depth, receiver depth, water depth, and bathymetry separate. Do not collapse them into one generic "depth" parameter.
- Transmission loss is usually plotted in dB. If you start from complex pressure, convert explicitly and document the formula you used.
- Keep units explicit. Bellhop and Kraken range axes are commonly expressed in kilometers in papers and plots, while RAM range inputs are often meters.
- Do not guess tool semantics from the paper title. Bellhop is ray tracing, Kraken is normal modes, and RAM is parabolic-equation propagation.
Working pattern
- Confirm units and provenance with
paper_get_parameter before changing code.
- Pull figure constraints from
paper_get_figure_contract instead of relying on memory.
- If the paper leaves a gap, record it with instead of silently inventing a value.