A Numerical Study of Forward- and Backscattering Signatures on Doppler-Reflectometry Signals

Filipe da Silva (1) , Stéphane Heuraux (2) , Evgeniy Gusakov (3) , Alexei Yu Popov (4)

1 Association Euratom/CFN/IST
2 LPMIA - Laboratoire de physique des milieux ionisés et applications
3 HTPPL - High Temperature Plasma Physics Laboratory
4 A.F. Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute

In Doppler reflectometry, two scattering processes may be involved, Bragg backscattering and forward scattering. In this paper, a numerical study of both processes is undertaken using a finite-difference time-domain full-wave code with plasma parameters compatible with Tore Supra or Asdex Upgrade Doppler reflectometers. The spectra modeling the plasma turbulence were chosen to isolate forward- and backscattering events, allowing the segregation of the two different signatures and bring forth the different mechanisms intervening in each of the cases. Some numerical precautions needed for this type of simulations are presented. The results obtained are compared with the theoretical models.

Mots clés: FDTD; microwave Doppler reflectometry; wave propagation in plasmas; wave scattering

Domaines: Physique des plasmas [physics.plasm-ph]

Filipe da Silva, Stéphane Heuraux, Evgeniy Gusakov, Alexei Yu Popov. A Numerical Study of Forward- and Backscattering Signatures on Doppler-Reflectometry Signals. IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 2010, 38 (9), pp.2144. ⟨10.1109/TPS.2010.2056703⟩. ⟨hal-00521205⟩