EDGE2D-EIRENE predictions of molecular emission in DIII-D high-recycling divertor plasmas

This paper presents analyses of deuterium atomic and molecular emission and their contribution to the total radiation in DIII-D high-recycling ohmic plasmas:.•Measurements of Lyman-alpha intensity and Lyman-Werner bands (attempted) in DIII-D divertor plasma utilizing new divertor SPRED.•In high-recycling conditions, measured Fulcher-alpha band intensity 100x lower than Dalpha line intensity indicating negligible role of molecular radiation.•In high-recycling conditions, EDGE2D-EIRENE predicts measured peak electron temperature, but broader profiles; measured electron density is underpredicted by simulations by 2–3x.•Standalone EIRENE predictions, upgraded for calculations of Lyman-Werner intensities, predicted 50x lower Lyman-Werner band emission than Ly-alpha emission, corroborating negligible role of molecular emission in high-recycling conditions.