Experimental Simulation of Red Sprites in a Laboratory

Abstract

Over the past three decades, research of high-altitude atmospheric discharges has received a lot of attention. This paper presents the results of experimental modeling of red sprites during a discharge in low-pressure air. To initiate ionization waves in a quartz tube, an electrodeless pulseperiodic discharge fed by microsecond voltage pulses with an amplitude of a few kilovolts and a repetition rate of tens of kHz were formed. In this case ionization waves (streamers) have a length of tens of centimeters. The main plasma parameters were measured at various distances along the tube. The measurements confirm the fact that ionization waves propagate in opposite directions from the zone of the main electrodeless discharge, just as it happens during the formation of red sprites.