Direct measurement of zonal flows and geodesic acoustic mode oscillations in ASDEX Upgrade using Doppler reflectometry

Abstract

Zonal flows (ZFs) and associated geodesic oscillations are turbulence-generated time-varying Er × BT rigid poloidal plasma flows with finite radial extent. They are of major interest for tokamak confinement since they are thought to moderate drift-wave turbulence and hence edge transport. However, detection of ZFs (believed to be driven by Reynolds stress) and Geodesic acoustic modes (GAMs) (linked with poloidal pressure asymmetries) is challenging since they appear predominantly as low frequency (few kilohertz) potential or radial electric field Er fluctuations. Presented here are measurements of GAM/ZF properties in ohmic, L-mode and H-mode ASDEX Upgrade tokamak discharges using a new Doppler reflectometry technique to measure Er fluctuations directly.