  Synthetic intensity maps are generated from a 3D kink-unstable flux rope
simulation using several DKIST/DL-NIRSP spectral lines to make a prediction of
the observational signatures of energy transport and release. The reconstructed
large field-of-view intensity mosaics and single tile sit-and-stare
high-cadence image sequences show detailed, fine-scale structure and exhibit
signatures of wave propagation, redistribution of heat, flows and fine-scale
bursts. These fine-scale bursts are present in the synthetic Doppler velocity
maps and can be interpreted as evidence for small-scale magnetic reconnection
at the loop boundary. The spectral lines reveal the different thermodynamic
structures of the loop, with the hotter lines showing the loop interior and
braiding, and the cooler lines showing the radial edges of the loop. The
synthetic observations of DL-NIRSP are found to preserve the radial expansion
and hence the loop radius can be measured accurately. The electron number
density can be estimated using the intensity ratio of the Fe~\textsc{xiii}
lines at 10747 and 10798~\AA. The estimated density from this ratio is correct
to within $\pm10\%$ during the later phases of the evolution, however it is
less accurate initially when line-of-sight density inhomogeneities contribute
to the Fe~\textsc{xiii} intensity, resulting in an overprediction of the
density by $\approx30\%$. The identified signatures are all above a
conservative estimate for instrument noise and therefore will be detectable. In
summary, we have used forward modelling to demonstrate that the coronal
off-limb mode of DKIST/DL-NIRSP will be able to detect multiple independent
signatures of a kink-unstable loop and observe small-scale transient features
including loop braiding/twisting and small-scale reconnection events occurring
at the radial edge of the loop.
