Overview of experiments with the Dynamic Ergodic Divertor on TEXTOR

The Dynamic Ergodic Divertor (DED) has recently been taken into operation on TEXTOR. The device is rather flexible and allows the investigation of very different questions. In the present context we concentrate on the divertor aspect and on results of the m/n=12/4 base mode. The DED-field generates the proper ergodic zone and an area of open magnetic field lines, the laminar zone and the tangle structure. The properties of the laminar zone resemble the divertor region of a poloidal divertor. However, the distribution of the density and temperature is highly 3D and strongly related to the structure of the laminar and ergodic zones. The structures of the heat and particle fluxes to the wall agree well with the predicted patterns. A prominent feature of the ergodization is the creation of an edge electric field which results in a rotation of the plasma. (c) 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Variability of the Bering Sea circulation in the period 1992-2010

Sea surface height anomalies observed by satellites in 1992-2010 are combined with monthly climatologies of temperature and salinity to estimate circulation in the southern Bering Sea. The estimated surface and deep currents are consistent with independent velocity observations by surface drifters and Argo floats parked at 1,000 m. Analysis reveals 1-3-Sv interannual transport variations of the major currents with typical intra-annual variability of 3-7 Sv. On the seasonal scale, the Alaskan Stream transport is well correlated with the Kamchatka (0.81), Near Strait (0.53) and the Bering Slope (0.37) currents. Lagged correlations reveal a gradual increase of the time the lags between the transports of the Alaskan Stream, the Bering Slope Current and the Kamchatka Current, supporting the concept that the Bering Sea basin is ventilated by the waters carried by the Alaskan Stream south of the Aleutian Arc and by the flow through the Near Strait. Correlations of the Bering Sea currents with the Bering Strait transport are dominated by the seasonal cycle. On the interannual time scale, significant negative correlations are diagnosed between the Near Strait transport and the Bering Slope and Alaskan Stream currents. Substantial correlations are also diagnosed between the eddy kinetic energy and Pacific Decadal Oscillation