Properties of high-altitude discharges in the atmosphere of the Earth and other planets and their satellites are actively studied in past three decades due to the acquisition of new data, primarily because of improvement of optical observation methods. This work experimentally and theoretically studies the ratios W1+/W2+ of radiation energy spectral density of four bands of the 1st positive nitrogen system (1+) to a band of the 2nd positive nitrogen system (2+) with a wavelength of 337 nm. The ratios are compared for atmospheric air and nitrogen with low impurity content at pressures of 0.04–0.4 torr. It is shown that the quenching rate of C3Πu triplet states of molecular nitrogen increases in a nitrogen-oxygen mixture, which decreases the ratios W1+/W2+. It is confirmed that quenching of B3Πg state by nitrogen and oxygen molecules increases with the air density in the Earth's atmosphere. The results can be useful for studying physical processes occurring against the background of the interaction of high-energy electrons with gases in the atmospheres of a number of planets and their satellites, which predominantly contain nitrogen.
low-pressure discharge, air, nitrogen, C3Πu and B3Πg states, diffuse plasma jet
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