Glowing plasma formations in the atmosphere and their reproduction in the laboratory

Abstract

The reasons for the appearance of glowing plasma formations in the real atmosphere are discussed. The results of laboratory modeling of these formations, in which the relative humidity of the air was varied, are reported. There exists a certain optimum concentration of water vapor, which leads to the formation of a cool, nonequilibrium plasma whose decay time is several seconds. Such atmospheric-electricity phenomena as St. Elmo's fire, ball lightning, and bead lightning are discussed as examples. The properties of the cool, nonequilibrium plasma are analyzed as a function of the content of H2O molecules.