Vol. 30, issue 10, article # 11

Abstract:

Nanosecond discharges in air, SF₆, and helium at pressures of units–tens of Torr are studied. Spatial heterogeneity of diffuse jets and autographs of runaway electron (RAE) beams are registered in all three gases in a non-uniform electric field. It is shown that diffuse jets in the discharge gap change their shape and their length increases and changes from pulse to pulse as the pressure decreases; as well, it is confirmed that the RAE beam amplitude increases as the pressure decreases and versus gas, decreasing with an increase in the atomic or molecular weight of the gas. It is assumed that the observed heterogeneity of diffuse jets and RAE beams can be associated with transient light phenomena in the Earth's atmosphere that have sizes of tens of kilometers and occur at high altitudes at low pressures under high thunderstorm activity.

Keywords:

nanosecond discharge at low pressures, non-uniform electric field, beams of runaway electrons, experimental simulation of sprites

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