The spatiotemporal characteristics of natural and resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP)-mitigated type-I edge localized modes (ELMs) on EAST are investigated using a high-resolution infrared (IR) camera. Natural ELMs exhibit a rise time () of 350–750 and a decay time () of 600–2300 , corresponding to 1.5–4. For RMP-mitigated ELMs, and are shorter than those of natural ELMs, which is correlated with a reduction in ELM size (). Further analysis shows that, for both natural and RMP-mitigated ELMs, peak heat flux () is largely independent of ELM size, whereas wetted area () increases with ELM size. Moreover, RMP-mitigated ELMs exhibit slightly lower than natural ELMs, indicating a modest reduction in transient heat load even under weak mitigation. Comparison between measured peak energy fluence and Eich model predictions shows good agreement for both natural and RMP-mitigated ELMs, with a slightly lower peak energy fluence under RMP, likely due to reduced ELM size. These results suggest that RMP modulates both the temporal and spatial characteristics of ELMs on EAST, which could have implications for ELM control strategies.
The impact of ELM mitigation on tungsten source in the EAST divertor