Vol. 39, issue 10, article # 1

Abstract:

In recent decades, discharges in the atmospheres of planets and their satellites have attracted considerable attention from researchers worldwide. Results on pulsed discharges in the Earth's atmosphere have both scientific and practical significance. Data for other planets and their satellites are also beginning to have not only scientific but also practical significance. This paper presents the results of experimental and theoretical studies of discharges formed without contact between generated plasma and electrodes in carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and mixtures of CO₂ with CO and nitrogen. At gas and mixture pressures of 0.25–1 torr, emission spectra of these gases and their mixtures were recorded, and photographs of the discharge plasma were taken. It has been shown that in a mixture of CO₂ with small additions of nitrogen, the strongest emission bands are observed in the UV spectral region at the bands of the N₂(C³Π_u) ® N₂(B³Π_g) transition. It has been established that in CO₂ and its mixtures with small amounts of CO, upon excitation by a pulse-periodic discharge, the emission at transitions of the Angstrom system in the visible spectral region and the third positive system in the UV region dominates. The results can be used in studying the physical processes in discharges occurring in the atmosphere of Mars, including near its surface during dust storms.

Keywords:

CO2, nitrogen, CO, low-pressure discharge, experiment and modeling, plasma diffuse jets

Figures:

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