Comparison of DBS measurements of turbulence spectra by vertical-displacement and poloidal-angle scans using the Scotty synthetic diagnostic

Abstract

Doppler backscattering (DBS) measures electron density fluctuations. The measured wavenumber is typically varied by changing the probe beam poloidal launch angle. As most DBS systems are unable to steer during a shot, the shot is repeated and the poloidal angle is changed intershot. An alternative method is to keep the DBS launch angle fixed and move the plasma up and down instead, enabling a range of wavenumbers to be measured within a single shot. We call this the bouncing ball method. We use the Scotty synthetic diagnostic (Hall-Chen, 2022) to evaluate the similarities and differences between these two approaches. Both approaches are capable of measuring a similar range of fluctuation wavenumbers as well as radial locations. However, the vertical-displacement scan has a larger range of measured poloidal locations than the poloidal-angle scan. Using the same synthetic turbulence spectrum as input, we show that the two approaches are expected to have different backscattered powers due to different instrumentation functions. When mismatch attenuation is accounted for via a synthetic diagnostic, the vertical-displacement scan can provide comparable radial and wavenumber coverage while reducing reliance on shot-to-shot repeatability. These results establish vertical-displacement scan as a practical route to single-shot DBS wavenumber spectra.