CARS thermometry in high temperature gradients

CARS is an effective non-intrusive technique for measuring gas temperature in combustion environments. In regions of high temperature gradient, however, the CARS signal is complicated by contributions from gas at different temperature. This paper examines theoretically the uncertainty associated with CARS thermometry in steep temperature gradients. In addition, the work compares the temperature predicted from CARS with the adiabatic mixed temperature of the gas resident in the measurement volume. This comparison helps indicate the maximum sample volume size allowed for accurate temperature measurements.