3D particle tracking velocimetry using dynamic discrete tomography

Particle tracking velocimetry in 3D is becoming an increasingly important imaging tool in the study of fluid dynamics, combustion as well as plasmas. We introduce a dynamic discrete tomography algorithm for reconstructing particle trajectories from projections. The algorithm is efficient for data from two projection directions and exact in the sense that it finds a solution consistent with the experimental data. Non-uniqueness of solutions can be detected and solutions can be tracked individually

Littoral phytocenoses of marshes located in different tidal conditions of the White Sea

This paper describes the distribution of plant communities from various associations, identified from the standpoint of the ecological-phytocenotic approach, occupying the tidal flat of low and medium marshes, which are under the influence of tide range, different values of pH and water salinity. According to the degree of pH influence, we identified acidotrophic, alkalotrophic, and indifferent phytocenoses, combined into different associations. Most associations of the estuaries with different tide range are alkalotrophic, there are noticeably fewer acidotrophic ones; a few eurytopic communities from the Phragmitetum australis, Bolboschoenetum maritimae, and Caricetum aquatilis associations are classified as indifferent. The study shows that the coastal vegetation of the marshes of the mesotidal estuaries of the White Sea develops in stable pH conditions in the range from 7.2 to 7.6. The formation of coastal vegetation is less stable in the macrotidal estuaries of the Mezen Bay, most of them form at pH = 7.0-8.3. Halophyte vegetation forms in the widest range of pH (6.2-8.3) in the marshes of microtidal estuaries in the Dvina Bay of the White Sea, which are more affected by floods than other estuaries. The halophytic vegetation of the White Sea develops in a wide range of salinity fluctuations from brackish to marine waters. However, the majority of plant associations in the rivers estuaries occupy the habitats of weakly saline waters with 10 to 25% salinity

Predicting ion cyclotron emission from neutral beam heated plasmas in Wendelstein7-X stellarator

Measurements of ion cyclotron emission (ICE) are planned for magnetically confined fusion (MCF) plasmas heated by neutral beam injection (NBI) in the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator (W-7X). Freshly injected NBI ions in the edge region, whose velocity-space distribution function approximates a delta-function, are potentially unstable against the magnetoacoustic cyclotron instability (MCI), which could drive a detectable ICE signal. Prediction of ICE from NBI protons in W-7X hydrogen plasmas is challenging, owing to the low ratio of the ions' perpendicular velocity to the local Alfvén speed, v⊥(NBI)/vA ≃ 0.14. We address this from first principles, using the particle-in-cell (PIC) kinetic code EPOCH. This selfconsistently solves the Lorentz force equation and Maxwell's equations for tens of millions of computational ions (both thermal majority and energetic NBI minority) and electrons, fully resolving gyromotion and hence capturing the cyclotron resonant phenomenology which gives rise to ICE. Our simulations predict an ICE signal which is predominantly electrostatic while incorporating a significant electromagnetic component. Its frequency power spectrum reflects novel MCI physics, reported here for the first time. The NBI ions relaxing under the MCI first drive broadband field energy at frequencies a little below the lower hybrid frequency ωLH, across the wavenumber range kωc/VA= 40 to 60, where ωc and VA denote ion cyclotron frequency and Alfvén velocity. Nonlinear coupling between these waves then excites spectrally structured ICE with narrow peaks, at much lower frequencies, typically the proton cyclotron frequency and its lower harmonics. The relative strength of these peaks depends on the specifics of the NBI ion velocity-space distribution and of the local plasma conditions, implying diagnostic potential for the predicted ICE signal from W7-X

Measurements of 3D slip velocities and plasma column lengths of a gliding arc discharge

A non-thermal gliding arc discharge was generated at atmospheric pressure in an air flow. The dynamics of the plasma column and tracer particles were recorded using two synchronized highspeed cameras. Whereas the data analysis for such systems has previously been performed in 2D (analyzing the single camera image), we provide here a 3D data analysis that includes 3D reconstructions of the plasma column and 3D particle tracking velocimetry based on discrete tomography methods. The 3D analysis, in particular, the determination of the 3D slip velocity between the plasma column and the gas flow, gives more realistic insight into the convection cooling process. Additionally, with the determination of the 3D slip velocity and the 3D length of the plasma column, we give more accurate estimates for the drag force, the electric field strength, the power per unit length, and the radius of the conducting zone of the plasma column. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC

Theoretical investigation on possible operation of a 140 GHz 1 MW gyrotron at 175 GHz for CTS plasma diagnostics at W7-X

Collective Thomson scattering is a common diagnostic technique for ion temperature measurements in experimental fusion plasma reactors. Such a system was successfully installed and commissioned at the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator. For this purpose, a 140 GHz gyrotron of the Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating system was used as a source of the required probing millimeter (mm)-wave beam. However, accurate measurements in the plasma core were not possible at this heating frequency due to the absorption of the mm-waves and the high electron cyclotron emission background. To suppress these effects and to enhance the accuracy of the measurements, it is required to increase the frequency of the probing beam. In this work, the possibility to operate the same gyrotron, which has its nominal operation at 140 GHz, at a higher frequency is comprehensively investigated