Overview of recent pedestal studies at ASDEX Upgrade.

New or upgraded diagnostics of the edge transport barrier allow investigations of the dominant transport mechanisms in the pedestal. The density build-up after the L–H transition can be explained with a mainly diffusive edge transport barrier. A small inward convection term improves the agreement between modelling and experiment, but its existence cannot be confirmed due to the uncertainty in the neutral sources. Measurements of the impurity ion flow asymmetry as well as the edge current density are in agreement with neoclassical modelling. The inter-ELM pedestal recovery was traced with ideal peeling–ballooning modelling, which shows that the stability boundary moves closer to the operational point as the pedestal becomes wider. Gyrokinetic modelling of the different phases reveal that density gradient driven trapped electron modes are dominant during the early recovery, while electron temperature gradient modes or kinetic ballooning modes determine the temperature gradient in the final phase. Microtearing modes are modelled and also experimentally determined at the top of the pedestal. Non-linear coupling between modes could explain the failure of ideal linear MHD modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]