Inter-ELM Power Decay Length for JET and ASDEX Upgrade: Measurement and Comparison with Heuristic Drift-Based Model

TLDR

Infrared thermography was used to measure SOL power decay lengths in JET and ASDEX Upgrade. Measured SOL power decay lengths in JET and ASDEX Upgrade follow an empirical scaling λ(q)=0.73B^(-0.78)q^1.2P^0.1, agree with a drift‑based model, and extrapolate to ≈1 mm at ITER.

Abstract

Experimental measurements of the SOL power decay length (λ(q)) estimated from analysis of fully attached divertor heat load profiles from two tokamaks, JET and ASDEX Upgrade, are presented. Data was measured by means of infrared thermography. An empirical scaling reveals parametric dependency λ(q) in mm = 0.73B(T)(-0.78)q(cyl)(1.2)P(SOL)(0.1)R(geo)(0), where B(T)(T) describes the toroidal magnetic field, q(cyl) the cylindrical safety factor, P(SOL)(MW) the power crossing the separatrix and R(geo)(m) the major radius of the device. A comparison of these measurements to a heuristic particle drift-based model shows satisfactory agreement in both absolute magnitude and scaling. Extrapolation to ITER gives λ(q) ≃ 1 mm.