High Speed Imaging of Edge Turbulence in NSTX

The two-dimensional radial versus poloidal structure and motion of edge turbulence in NSTX (National Spherical Torus Experiment) were measured by using high-speed imaging of the visible light emission from a localized neutral gas puff. Edge turbulence images are shown and analyzed for Ohmic, L-mode (low-confinement mode) and H-mode (high-confinement mode) plasma conditions. Typical edge turbulence poloidal correlation lengths as measured using this technique are = 4 {+-} 1 cm and autocorrelation times are 40 {+-} 20 {micro}sec in all three regimes. The relative fluctuation level is typically smaller in H-mode than in L-mode, and transitions from H- to L-mode and can occur remarkably quickly (=30 {micro}sec). The two-dimensional images often show localized regions of strong light emission which move both poloidally and radially through the observed region at a typical speed of =10{sup 5} cm/sec, and sometimes show spatially coherent modes.