On the role of filaments in perpendicular heat transport at the scrape-off layer

In this work we carry out quantitative measurements of particle and heat transport associated to SOL filaments in a tokamak, and relate density shoulder formation to the advection of energy in the far SOL. For the first time, this attempt includes direct measurements of ion and electron temperatures for background and filaments. With this aim, we combine data from a number of equivalent L-mode discharges from the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak in which different probe heads were installed on the midplane manipulator. This approach is validated by a comparison with independent diagnostics. Results indicate an increase of heat transport associated to filaments after the shoulder formation. Several centimeters into the SOL, filaments are still found to carry a substantial fraction (up to one fifth) of the power ejected at the separatrix.