Estimation of the thermal diffusion coefficient in fusion plasmas taking frequency measurement uncertainties into account

TitleEstimation of the thermal diffusion coefficient in fusion plasmas taking frequency measurement uncertainties into account
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2014
AuthorsM. van Berkel, H.J Zwart, G.MD Hogeweij, G. Vandersteen, H. van den Brand, MR de Baar, ASDEX Upgrade Team
JournalPlasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
Volume56
Issue10
Pagination105004
Abstract

In this paper, the estimation of the thermal diffusivity from perturbative experiments in fusion plasmas is discussed. The measurements used to estimate the thermal diffusivity suffer from stochastic noise. Accurate estimation of the thermal diffusivity should take this into account. It will be shown that formulas found in the literature often result in a thermal diffusivity that has a bias (a difference between the estimated value and the actual value that remains even if more measurements are added) or have an unnecessarily large uncertainty. This will be shown by modeling a plasma using only diffusion as heat transport mechanism and measurement noise based on ASDEX Upgrade measurements. The Fourier coefficients of a temperature perturbation will exhibit noise from the circular complex normal distribution (CCND). Based on Fourier coefficients distributed according to a CCND, it is shown that the resulting probability density function of the thermal diffusivity is an inverse non-central chi-squared distribution. The thermal diffusivity that is found by sampling this distribution will always be biased, and averaging of multiple estimated diffusivities will not necessarily improve the estimation. Confidence bounds are constructed to illustrate the uncertainty in the diffusivity using several formulas that are equivalent in the noiseless case. Finally, a different method of averaging, that reduces the uncertainty significantly, is suggested. The methodology is also extended to the case where damping is included, and it is explained how to include the cylindrical geometry.

DOI10.1088/0741-3335/56/10/105004
Division

FP

Department

TP

PID

f3be4e9703331bf6d0a635c164885fdc

Alternate TitlePlasma Phys. Control. Fusion
LabelOA
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