Reflectometry Signals Research Articles

Experimental trends of reflectometry frequency spectra emerging from a systematic analysis of the Tore Supra database

One major goal of data science applications is to extract patterns from large datasets. Such a database approach has been applied, for the first time in fusion science, towards a systematic study of the frequency spectra computed from reflectometry signals in the Tore Supra database, which are related to density fluctuations. In particular, the decomposition of reflectometry frequency spectra has allowed us to discover and quantify general trends of spectral characteristics (fractional contribution and width) for different components in Ohmic and low-confinement mode (L-mode) plasmas. In Ohmic plasmas, the contribution of the broadband component (EBB) to the total spectrum power in the saturated Ohmic confinement (SOC) regime is observed to be systematically higher than in the linear Ohmic confinement (LOC) regime. A transition of the dominating instability from TEM to ITG could explain the observed spectral modifications, which are supported by the analysis of the dependence of density peaking on collisionality. The spectral characteristics of the broadband (BB) and low-frequency (LF) components were then investigated in L-mode plasmas with ICRH or LH heating. The similar trends of the BB components with collisionality observed in L-mode plasmas compared with the Ohmic cases suggest a similar explanation by linking the frequency spectra to the underlying instabilities. The database analysis motivates more detailed studies by full-wave and gyrokinetic simulations, in order to confirm this link for both Ohmic and L-mode plasmas.

Distributed temperature sensing with unmodified coaxial cable based on random reflections in TDR signal

This paper presents a new method to utilize an unmodified coaxial cable for distributed temperature sensing. It compares the time domain reflectometry (TDR) signal before and after temperature change by cross-correlation, and the resultant time delay will indicate the region as well as the magnitude of the temperature change. The temperature change from 27 °C to 70 °C is monitored and a linear relationship between the cross-correlation value and temperature can be observed. Two-section temperature change monitoring is also demonstrated to show its distributed sensing capability. This method is more sensitive than the traditional TDR method. Compared to coaxial cable sensors based on multiple Fabry–Perot interferometers or coaxial cable Bragg gratings, the cable does not need to be modified before installation, and it is truly distributed sensing without dark zone.

Multiple Reflection Analysis of TDR Signal for Complex Dielectric Spectroscopy

Most dielectric spectroscopy techniques require careful system calibration, tedious measurement, specially designed probes, precise input source, and some even involved complicated inversion models. This paper proposed a rapid, robust, and model-free multiple reflection analysis (MRA) of time-domain reflectometry (TDR) signals to measure the complex dielectric permittivity (CDP) spectrum. The key to MRA approach is to decompose the first top reflection and the subsequent multiple reflections from TDR signal and to compare their spectral ratio (MRA ratio). This ratio was theoretically derived from the transmission line theory and found to be independent of source function and impedance mismatches in the leading sections. Based on this theoretical formulation, the CDP spectrum can be uniquely inverted from the measured MRA ratio through optimization and an iterated initial guess method. Numerical evaluations and experimental verifications had proven that MRA is a reliable algorithm for measuring CDP spectrum covering 10 MHz–1 GHz. Factors influencing the reliable frequency region were discussed and recommendations on enhancing CDP measurement was proposed for highly dispersive materials. The MRA approach enables dielectric spectroscopy to be conveniently conducted in both laboratory and field, without complicated system setup and calibration.

Research of the Vibration Source Tracking in Phase-Sensitive Optical Time-Domain Reflectometry Signals Based by Image Processing Method

This paper aims to improve the source tracking efficiency of distributed vibration signals generated by phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (Φ-OTDR). Considering the two dimensions (time and length) of Φ-OTDR signals, the authors saved and processed these signals as images after particle filtering. The filtering method could save 0.1% of hard drive space without sacrificing the original features of the signals. Then, an integrated feature extraction method was proposed to further process the generated image. The method combines three individual extraction methods, namely, texture feature extraction, shape feature extraction and intrinsic feature extraction. Subsequently, the signal of each frame image was recognized to track the vibration source. To verify the effect of the proposed method, several experiments were carried out to compare it with popular and traditional approaches. The results show that: Hard drive space is greatly conserved by saving the distributed vibration signals as images; the proposed particle filter is a desirable way to screen the vibration signals for monitoring; the integrated feature extraction outperforms the individual extraction methods for texture features, shape features and intrinsic features; the proposed method has a better effect than other popular integrated feature extraction methods; and, the signal source tracking method has little impact on the positioning accuracy of the vibration source. The research findings provide important insights into the source tracking of Φ-OTDR signals.

Experimental studies of toroidal correlations of plasma density fluctuations along the magnetic field lines in the T-10 tokamak and first results of numerical modeling

The antenna system of reflectometry diagnostics at the T-10 tokamak allows to study long-range toroidal correlations of plasma density fluctuations along the magnetic field lines. The antenna systems are installed in two poloidal cross-sections of the vacuum chamber separated by a 90° angle in the toroidal direction. The experiments, which were conducted at the low field side, showed that the high level of toroidal correlations is observed only for quasi-coherent fluctuations. However, broadband and stochastic low frequency fluctuations are not correlated. Numerical modeling of the plasma turbulence structure in the T-10 tokamak was conducted to interpret the experimental results and take into account non-locality of reflectometry measurements. In the model used, it was assumed that the magnitudes of density fluctuations are constant along the magnetic field lines. The 2D full-wave Tamic-RTH code was used to model the reflectometry signals. High level of correlations for quasi-coherent fluctuations was obtained during the modeling, which agrees with the experimental observations. However, the performed modeling also predicts high level of correlations for broadband fluctuations, which contradicts the experimental data. The modeling showed that the effective reflection radius, from which the information on quasi-coherent plasma turbulence is obtained, is shifted outwards from the reflection radius by approximately 7 mm.

Shape of Time Domain Reflectometry Signals during the Passing of Wetting Fronts

Core Ideas Precise wetting front arrival times can be determined from local TDR readings. Wetting shock fronts due to preferential flow are sharp. This approach uses the control volume with two‐rod TDR probes as the longitudinal axis. Estimates of preferential flow rates follow from this approach. Viscous flow theory expects sharp wetting shock fronts during infiltration in permeable media, but time domain reflectometry (TDR) measurements, using horizontally installed two‐rod probes, reveal concave and convex increases at the early and late stages during the passing of the front, i.e., the TDR signals are S‐shaped. Wetting front dispersal was initially considered as the cause, due to variations in the flow path lengths at the profile scale. However, later studies favored processes that are closer to the scale of the TDR control volume. In this study, an approach was developed that quantifies the shape of TDR signals exclusively with local features. It improves the determination of the arrival time of a wetting shock front at the depth of a TDR probe, and it ultimately supports the notion of sharp wetting shock fronts at the scale of the probe's length that evolve during preferential infiltration.

A novel TDR signal processing technique for measuring apparent dielectric spectrum

Conventional time-domain reflectometry (TDR) signal interpretation generated single-valued apparent dielectric constant, while sophisticated, inconvenient measurement system and analysis is needed for measuring spectral complex dielectric permittivity (CDP). Niching between these approaches, a novel phase velocity analysis (PVA) method is developed to efficiently measure apparent dielectric spectrum (ADS) directly from TDR signals in a simple, quick, model-free, and inversion-free manner. The proposed PVA method extracts the two reflections from the top and end of the sensing probe by proper window selection and calculates their phase shift at each frequency, from which the phase velocity and corresponding apparent dielectric constant can be determined. Numerical and experimental results demonstrated that PVA is capable of measuring ADS in a frequency band, typically from 100 MHz–1 GHz. The effect of signal truncation was identified as the main cause of poor results outside the effective frequency band. Factors that affect the frequency band of effective ADS were numerically investigated. For highly dispersive materials, the end reflection pulse does not fully develop before the arrival of subsequent multiple reflections, resulting in severe truncation error and decreasing the upper frequency of effective ADS. Methods to estimate and extend the frequency band of effective ADS were further proposed. The simple procedures behind PVA, and its computationally efficient nature, make this method suitable for field monitoring. The resultant ADS is a potential improvement to current applications utilizing a travel time approach.

Retrieval of sea surface winds under hurricane conditions from GNSS-R observations

Reflected signals from global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) have been widely acknowledged as an important remote sensing tool for retrieving sea surface wind speeds. The power of GNSS reflectometry (GNSS-R) signals can be mapped in delay chips and Doppler frequency space to generate delay Doppler power maps (DDMs), whose characteristics are related to sea surface roughness and can be used to retrieve wind speeds. However, the bistatic radar cross section (BRCS), which is strongly related to the sea surface roughness, is extensively used in radar. Therefore, a bistatic radar cross section (BRCS) map with a modified BRCS equation in a GNSS-R application is introduced. On the BRCS map, three observables are proposed to represent the sea surface roughness to establish a relationship with the sea surface wind speed. Airborne Hurricane Dennis (2005) GNSS-R data are then used. More than 16 000 BRCS maps are generated to establish GMFs of the three observables. Finally, the proposed model and classic one-dimensional delay waveform (DW) matching methods are compared, and the proposed model demonstrates a better performance for the high wind speed retrievals.

Criteria for Automated Estimation of Time of Flight in TDR Analysis

In this paper, a performance analysis, in terms of accuracy, linearity, and repeatability, of three criteria to estimate the time of flight in time-domain reflectometry (TDR) signals is carried out. In a first set of experiments, the three criteria [referred to as maximum derivative (MD), zero derivative, and tangent crossing (TC)] are applied to TDR signals propagating along a set of coaxial cables, with different known lengths and known electrical parameters. In a second set of experiments, the same criteria are applied to biwire cables in air, with different known lengths and unknown electrical parameters. Finally, in the last set of experiments, the criteria are applied in a more complex situation, i.e., on a biwire used as a sensing element for water-level measurement. The results show that, among the tested criteria, TC appears to provide a very good performance in terms of systematic errors and superior performance in terms of repeatability. The popular MD criterion appears to be more prone to random errors due to noise and TDR artifacts. The results of this paper are relevant to many practical applications of TDR, ranging from fault location in cables to media interface sensing.

Cost-effective imaging of optoacoustic pressure, ultrasonic scattering, and optical diffuse reflectance with improved resolution and speed.

The idea of a method of cost-effective upgrades from an acoustic resolution photoacoustic microscope to a triple-modality imaging system is validated using phantoms. The newly developed experimental setup is based on a diode pumped solid state laser coupled to a fiber bundle with a spherically focused polyvinylidene fluoride detector integrated into the center of a ring shaped optical illuminator. Each laser pulse illuminating the sample performs two functions. While the photons absorbed by the sample provide a measurable optoacoustic (OA) signal, the photons absorbed by the detector provide the measurable diffuse reflectometry (DR) signal from the sample and the probing ultrasonic (US) pulse. At a 3 mm imaging depth, the axial resolution of the OA/US modalities is 38 μm/26 μm, while the lateral resolution of the DR/OA/US modalities is 3.5 mm/50 μm/35 μm. The maximum acquisition rate of the trimodal DR/OA/US A-scans is 2 kHz.

SCM/WDM-PON with in-service baseband embedded OTDR monitoring

Subcarrier Multiplexing and Wavelength Division Multiplexing Passive Optical Network (SCM/WDM-PON) is a promising solution to support Radio over Fiber (RoF) for the convergence of optical and wireless access networks. In this paper, we propose a novel SCM/WDM-PON system with in-service baseband monitoring, which uses an optical carrier to supervise the fiber infrastructure and several subcarriers to transmit data signals simultaneously. The performance of the proposed system is investigated where an embedded baseband Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR) signal is applied for fiber fault monitoring. The results have verified the feasibility of the proposed system and shown that with proper configuration the in-service baseband monitoring signals have negligible impact on data transmission.

Texture analysis of UTDR images for enhancement of monitoring and diagnosis of membrane filtration

Membrane fouling is unavoidable in a membrane filtration process; fouling caused by recalcitrant gel and cake layers on the membrane always results in a decrease of permeate flux. In this research, the non-destructive ultrasonic time-domain reflectometry (UTDR) signals from the block-scanning mode are used to investigate membrane fouling in various conditions. Through Hilbert transform on UTDR signals, direct visualization of the membrane fouling distribution is developed. Although ultrasonic data acquirements are automatically achieved, the analysis of ultrasonic images is achieved manually by an operator. To build up the automatic fouling monitoring system, in this research, the texture analysis and the wavelet transform applied to UTDR images are used to extract the spatial statistic features of the fouling distribution. Then the principal component analysis of multivariate statistics is applied to statistic features. The research results show that it is more convenient to detect faults using the proposed method than the commonly used visualized approaches.

90° magnetic coupling in a NiFe/FeMn/biased NiFe multilayer spin valve component investigated by polarized neutron reflectometry

We have observed 90° magnetic coupling in a NiFe/FeMn/biased NiFe multilayer system using polarized neutron reflectometry. Magnetometry results show magnetic switching for both the biased and free NiFe layers, the latter of which reverses at low applied fields. As these measurements are only capable of providing information about the total magnetization within a sample, polarized neutron reflectometry was used to investigate the reversal behavior of the NiFe layers individually. Both the non-spin-flip and spin-flip neutron reflectometry signals were tracked around the free NiFe layer hysteresis loop and were used to detail the evolution of the magnetization during reversal. At low magnetic fields near the free NiFe coercive field, a large spin-flip signal was observed, indicating magnetization aligned perpendicular to both the applied field and pinned layer.

Radial correlation reflectometry at oblique probing wave incidence (linear scattering theory predictions)

Turbulence radial correlation length measurements by making use of Doppler reflectometry are analysed in this paper assuming the linear (in density perturbation amplitude) regime of the probing wave scattering. Based on the Born approximation applicable in this case, we get a general integral representation of the scattering signal amplitude, which is then analysed in detail both analytically and numerically. Asymptotic analytical evaluation of the scattering signal amplitude gives a criterion on the incidence angle, exceeding which leads to suppression of the poor localized forward scattering contribution to the Doppler reflectometry signal. In the latter case, fast decay of correlation in the two frequency channels appears to be similar to that expected from the turbulence correlation function. The analytical estimations and predictions are confirmed by numerical evaluation of the scattering signal amplitude. The analysis performed proves the feasibility of the radial correlation Doppler reflectometry technique for measurements of the correlation length of a modest level turbulence at oblique launching of the probing wave beam.

On turbulence-correlation analysis based on correlation reflectometry

Drift wave micro-turbulence is the main source of anomalous transport in a tokamak. Correlation reflectometry is a powerful diagnostic tool which provides information on plasma turbulence and subsequently on underlying instability. In this paper, theoretical expressions for the analysis of radial correlation reflectometry (RCR) data are derived. Integral kernels, which convert the correlation function of two microwave reflectometry signals into a correlation function of plasma turbulence and inverse, are discussed. The analytical expression and the method of combining the RCR diagnostic and another local density fluctuation (e.g. Doppler enhanced scattering or heavy ion beam probe) is proposed. The correlation between reflectometry signals and those from other local fluctuation measurements is analysed. The long-range tail of the correlation decays much more gradually than the turbulence correlation, however, it decays faster than that of two microwave reflectometry signals. The way to calculate turbulence wave number spectrum for this case is also proposed.

Long-range vibration sensor based on correlation analysis of optical frequency-domain reflectometry signals

We present a novel method to achieve a space-resolved long- range vibration detection system based on the correlation analysis of the optical frequency-domain reflectometry (OFDR) signals. By performing two separate measurements of the vibrated and non-vibrated states on a test fiber, the vibration frequency and position of a vibration event can be obtained by analyzing the cross-correlation between beat signals of the vibrated and non-vibrated states in a spatial domain, where the beat signals are generated from interferences between local Rayleigh backscattering signals of the test fiber and local light oscillator. Using the proposed technique, we constructed a standard single-mode fiber based vibration sensor that can have a dynamic range of 12 km and a measurable vibration frequency up to 2 kHz with a spatial resolution of 5 m. Moreover, preliminarily investigation results of two vibration events located at different positions along the test fiber are also reported.

Full‐wave modeling of the time domain reflectometry signal in wetted sandy soils using a random microstructure discretization: Comparison with experiments

Time domain reflectometry (TDR) is a proven, nondestructive method for the measurement of the permittivity and electrical conductivity of soils, using electromagnetic (EM) waves. Standard interpretation of TDR data leads to the estimation of the soil's equivalent electromagnetic properties since the wavelengths associated with the source signal are considerably greater than the microstructure of the soil. The aforementioned approximation tends to hide an important issue: the influence of the microstructure and phase configuration in the generation of a polarized electric field, which is complicated because of the presence of numerous length scales. In this paper, the influence of the microstructural distribution of each phase on the TDR signal has been studied. We propose a two‐step EM modeling technique at a microscale range (): first, we define an equivalent grain including a thin shell of free water, and second, we solve Maxwell's equations over the discretized, statistically distributed triphasic porous medium. Modeling of the TDR probe with the soil sample was performed using a three‐dimensional finite difference time domain scheme. The effectiveness of this hybrid homogenization approach is tested on unsaturated Nemours sand with narrow granulometric fractions. The comparisons made between numerical and experimental results are promising, despite significant assumptions concerning (1) the TDR probe head and the coaxial cable and (2) the assumed effective medium theory homogenization associated with the electromagnetic processes arising locally between the liquid and solid phases at the grain scale.

A new view of membrane fouling with 3D ultrasonic imaging techniques: Taking the canola oil with phospholipids for example

Traditional studies on membrane fouling have been generally examined by the experimental evaluation of the flux decline behavior. The present paper attempts to directly distinguish the fouling status under different filtration conditions using the ultrasonic imaging technique. The ultrasonic signals captured during the ultrafiltration of phospholipids from the crude oil are recorded. Then the fouling patterns are visualized by the reconstruction of the image in the three dimensions. The 3D reconstruction is vivid and clear. The image patterns of the fouling variation are consistent with the flux decline model that describes a transitional behavior in fouling mechanism from pore blockage to cake formation. The ultrasonic reflectometry signals also yield reasonably good quantification of the fouled membrane thickness. The research results in this paper indicate that the ultrasonic technique is a useful, non-invasive method for evaluating the effects of both filtration time and transmembrane pressure on permeate flux.

Simulation of reflectometry Bragg backscattering spectral responses in the absence of a cutoff layer

Experimental reflectometry signals obtained in the absence of a cutoff layer, with the possibility of interferometric operation excluded, show a coherent and recurrent frequency spectrum signature similar to an Alfvén cascade signature. A possible explanation resides in the modulation of a resonant Bragg backscattering response by an Alfvén mode structure located at the center of the plasma whose frequency of oscillation modulates the backscattered signal in a conformable way. This situation is modeled and simulated using an O-mode full-wave Maxwell finite-difference time-domain code and the resulting signatures are discussed.

Turbulence, flows and edge localized mode (ELM) dynamics in limiter H-mode plasmas in TEXTOR

The turbulence, plasma flow and edge localized mode (ELM) dynamics in the limiter H-mode TEXTOR plasmas are investigated. Properties of both ambient turbulence within 0 < k⊥ < 4.2 cm−1 and coherent modes are studied on the ELM time scale in detail. The turbulence level near the pedestal is shown to evolve several times with the period of ELMs. Within the inter-ELM period the ‘silent stage’ is found which is characterized by an extremely low (below that for Ohmic plasmas) turbulence level and a phase growth in the reflectometry signal. The silent stage is associated with the quasi-steady state when the pedestal is formed and confinement is improved between two successive ELMs. Quasi-coherent density oscillations near the pedestal region with m ≈ 3, 5, 16 and 38 are measured with correlation reflectometry. Low-m modes are found to reveal the signatures of precursor mode. At first, the radial structure of the rotation shear and radial electric field Er in limiter H-mode in TEXTOR is presented. The characteristic negative electric field well with the sharp gradient ∇Er ≈ 250 V cm−2 at ≈2 cm inside separatrix is resolved. The Er × B rotation profile defines both the resulting plasma rotation in the electron diamagnetic drift direction and a significant rotation shear near the separatrix which exceeds the decorrelation rate of ambient turbulence by several times.