System for simulating fluctuation diagnostics for application to turbulence computations

Abstract

Present-day nonlinear microstability codes are able to compute the saturated fluctuations of a turbulent fluid versus space and time, whether the fluid be liquid, gas, or plasma. They are therefore able to determine turbulence-induced fluid (or particle) and energy fluxes. These codes, however, must be tested against experimental data not only with respect to transport but also characteristics of the fluctuations. The latter is challenging because of limitations in the diagnostics (e.g., finite spatial resolution) and the fact that the diagnostics typically do not measure exactly the quantities that the codes compute. In this work, we present a system based on IDL® analysis and visualization software in which user-supplied “diagnostic filters” are applied to the code outputs to generate simulated diagnostic signals. The same analysis techniques as applied to the measurements, e.g., digital time-series analysis, may then be applied to the synthesized signals. Their statistical properties, such as rms fluctuation level, mean wave numbers, phase and group velocities, correlation lengths and times, and in some cases full S(k,ω) spectra, can then be compared directly to those of the measurements.