Cross-field motion of plasma blob-filaments and related particle flux in an open magnetic field line configuration on QUEST

Blob-filaments have been observed by combined measurement with a fast camera and a movable Langmuir probe in an open magnetic field line configuration of electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) heating plasma in QUEST. Blob-filaments extended along field lines do correspond to over-dense plasma structures and propagated across the field lines to the outer wall. The radial velocity of the blob structure, Vb, was obtained by three methods and was dominantly driven by the E x B force. The radial velocity, size of the blob showed good agreements with the results obtained by sheath-connected interchange theoretical model. Vb corresponds to roughly 0.02-0.07 of the local sound speed (Cs) in QUEST. The higher moments (skewness S and kurtosis K) representing the shape of PDF of density fluctuation are studied. Their least squares fitting with quadratic polynomial is K = (1.60 +/- 0.27) S-2 - (0.46 +/- 0.20). The larger blob structures, occurring only 10% of the time, can carry more than 60% loss of the entire radial particle flux. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.