Methodology for turbulence code validation: Quantification of simulation-experiment agreement and application to the TORPEX experiment

Abstract

A methodology for plasma turbulence code validation is discussed, focusing on quantitative assessment of the agreement between experiments and simulations. The present work extends the analysis carried out in a previous paper [P. Ricci et al., Phys. Plasmas 16, 055703 (2009)] where the validation observables were introduced. Here, it is discussed how to quantify the agreement between experiments and simulations with respect to each observable, how to define a metric to evaluate this agreement globally, and—finally—how to assess the quality of a validation procedure. The methodology is then applied to the simulation of the basic plasma physics experiment TORPEX [A. Fasoli et al., Phys. Plasmas 13, 055902 (2006)], considering both two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulation models.