Ionization process in the humid air of the lower troposphere

This paper analyzes the local processes of ionization and electron loss in the early stages of an electric discharge in humid air at altitudes of 0–12 km. The processes of ionization in an external electric field, background ionization, attachment and detachment of electrons from atomic and molecular oxygen, charge transfer, and the conversion of negative ions are considered. The dependences of the rate constants on the pressure are taken into account. It is shown that the electric field strength at which the effective ionization of air begins decreases with increasing altitude.     

FDTD方法分析高功率微波对大气的电离与击穿

 应用麦克斯韦方程和电子流体方程,利用时域有限差分方法(FDTD)计算模拟了高功率微波(HPM)对大气的电离与击穿;该方法用瞬时电场代替等效电场,时刻更新大气电离击穿过程中的电离频率和碰撞频率,消除了近似解析法未考虑大气电离击穿过程中电场幅度衰减而引起的误差,计算得到击穿阈值大小随海拔高度的变化趋势与文献所得的变化趋势相吻合,其值略大于近似解析解;并通过仿真计算分析了HPM脉冲幅值、脉宽以及海拔高度等参数对大气击穿的影响。     

FDTD方法分析高功率微波对大气的电离与击穿

应用麦克斯韦方程和电子流体方程,利用时域有限差分方法(FDTD)计算模拟了高功率微波(HPM)对大气的电离与击穿;该方法用瞬时电场代替等效电场,时刻更新大气电离击穿过程中的电离频率和碰撞频率,消除了近似解析法未考虑大气电离击穿过程中电场幅度衰减而引起的误差,计算得到击穿阈值大小随海拔高度的变化趋势与文献所得的变化趋势相吻合,其值略大于近似解析解;并通过仿真计算分析了HPM脉冲幅值、脉宽以及海拔高度等参数对大气击穿的影响。     

The Effective Ionization of Air and Oxygen in a Near-Critical Electric Field at High Pressures

The effective ionization of air and oxygen at early stages of electric discharge development at medium and high pressures is analyzed. Ionization in an applied field with the participation of background electrons, electron sticking to and detachment from oxygen atoms and molecules, and recharging and conversion of negative ions is considered. The dependence of ion-molecular processes on external field is taken into account. The effective ionization value is shown to be different in constant and microwave fields. The effective air ionization values obtained in a microwave field are in agreement with the experimental data. It is shown that background electrons determine the possibility of effective ionization, whereas conversion processes determine the existence of a threshold E/N value, where E is the electric field strength and N is the density of neutral particles.     

Electric field perturbation caused by an increase in conductivity related to seismicity-induced atmospheric radioactivity growth

The influence of conductivity perturbation in the lower atmosphere on the DC electric field over a seismic region is investigated. This perturbation is related to the emanation of radon and other radioactive elements into the lower atmosphere as the seismic activity increases. An increase in the level of atmospheric radioactivity results in the appearance of additional ionization sources. The altitude dependence of the ion formation rate is calculated. An ionization source changes the atmospheric conductivity because of the appearance of ions with an equilibrium number density. The perturbation of the atmospheric conductivity is calculated as a function of the altitude. Lower atmosphere conductivity changes disturb the electric current that flows in the global atmosphere-ionosphere circuit. This disturbance is caused by an external current over a seismic region. DC electric field perturbations on the Earth’s surface and in the ionosphere are estimated. Published in Russian in Khimicheskaya Fizika, 2007, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 39–44. The text was translated by the authors.     

Effective ionization of air in a near-critical electric field at high temperatures

The effective ionization at the early stages of the development of an electric discharge in air at moderate and high temperatures and pressures was analyzed. Ionization in an external electric field were studied with consideration given to background electrons, the attachment and detachment of electrons from atoms and molecules, and recharging and conversion of anions. The rates of ion-molecular reactions, in particular, detachment, depend not only on the external field strength but also on the temperature. The ionization thresholds were demonstrated to decrease with increasing temperature.     

Specific features of the ionization of atmospheric air resulting from radioactive pollution

Specific features of inhomogeneous ionization resulting from radioactive pollution in the lower atmosphere are investigated. A model of track ionization of air is proposed that allows for such elementary processes as kinetics, molecular diffusion, and drift of ions in an electric field. The applicability limits of the model are determined.     

Thermal ionization instability of an air discharge plasma in a microwave field

Results are presented from experimental studies of the initial stage of an air discharge initiated in a linearly polarized quasi-optical microwave beam. The discharge was excited at an air pressure at which the electron-neutral collision frequency in the discharge plasma was considerably higher than the circular frequency of the electromagnetic field and at a microwave field amplitude close to the threshold field for air breakdown. The experiments revealed relatively bright plasma channels stretched along the microwave electric field. The development rate of these channels and their characteristic transverse dimensions are estimated. A comparison of the experimental data and theoretical estimates indicates that the channels observed arise due to the onset of thermal ionization instability in the microwave discharge plasma.     

Air breakdown induced by the microwave with two mutually orthogonal and heterophase electric field components

The air breakdown is easily caused by the high-power microwave, which can have two mutually orthogonal and heterophase electric field components. For this case, the electron momentum conservation equation is employed to deduce the electric field power and effective electric field for heating electrons. Then the formula of the electric field power is introduced into the global model to simulate the air breakdown. The breakdown prediction from the global model agrees well with the experimental data. Simulation results show that the electron temperature is sensitive to the phase difference between the two electron field components, while the latter can affect obviously the growth of the electron density at low electron temperature amplitudes. The ionization of nitrogen and oxygen induces the growth of electron density, and the density loss due to the dissociative attachment and dissociative recombination is obvious only at low electron temperatures.     

The mechanism of detection of air pollution by an ionization chamber

The mechanism of detection of chemical vapors in air by an ionization chamber supplied by DC and AC voltage has been described. The theoretical explanation is based on numerical solutions of the differential equations of the cylindrical ionization chamber. The current of the ionization chamber operating in the AC regime has two components: a conductive component, caused by the ions drifts, and a capacitive component, caused by the distortion of the electric field. The ionization chamber operating in the DC regime has only the first component; hence the AC supplied chamber has larger response than the DC supplied chamber.     

高功率微波有效电场强度对大气折射率的影响

 高功率微波的强电场与大气作用使空气电离，中性分子的电离频率与等效电场强度、大气压强密切相关。在一个较宽的范围内研究电子与大气中性分子的相互作用，分析讨论了高功率微波传输一个脉冲后电子浓度和折射率随微波有效电场强度的变化。     

高功率微波有效电场强度对大气折射率的影响

高功率微波的强电场与大气作用使空气电离,中性分子的电离频率与等效电场强度、大气压强密切相关。在一个较宽的范围内研究电子与大气中性分子的相互作用,分析讨论了高功率微波传输一个脉冲后电子浓度和折射率随微波有效电场强度的变化。     

Air ionization in a near-critical electric field

A set of experimental dependences of the air ionization effective rate on the electric field strength is presented. The concept of the critical breakdown field is discussed. It is indicated that experimental data are quantitatively inconsistent with analytical results based on this concept. This inconsistency is eliminated if the ionization balance takes into account not only dissociative adhesion of electrons to oxygen molecules but also their detachment from the molecules that gained a charge during the charge exchange process. Based on the results obtained, a new physical interpretation of the critical field is suggested. A formula for the effective rate of air ionization in near-critical fields is derived.     

外加高压电场下空气中激光等离子体通道寿命研究

通过对飞秒激光在空气中产生的等离子体通道两端外加高压,来研究通道的寿命变化情况。实验得到,当在等离子体通道两端外加高压时(350 kV/m),等离子体通道寿命延长了近3倍。理论模拟和分析结果表明在外加电场条件下,碰撞电离得到增强,吸附作用相对减弱,解离复合系数随着电子平均能量的增加而下降的趋势更为剧烈,这进一步引起了等离子体通道寿命的延长。实验结果与理论分析共同表明了利用外加电场对空气中激光等离子体通道寿命进行延长的可行性。     

The Mechanism of Detection of Air Pollution by an Ionization Chamber

Abstract

The mechanism of detection of chemical vapors in air by an ionization chamber supplied by DC and AC voltage has been described. The theoretical explanation is based on numerical solutions of the differential equations of the cylindrical ionization chamber. The current of the ionization chamber operating in the AC regime has two components: a conductive component, caused by the ions drifts, and a capacitive component, caused by the distortion of the electric field. The ionization chamber operating in the DC regime has only the first component; hence the AC supplied chamber has larger response than the DC supplied chamber.     

Ionization of an air-methane mixture in a near-critical electric field

The process of effective ionization at the early stages of development of an electric discharge in methane-air mixtures at moderate and high pressures is analyzed. The ionization in an external electric field with consideration given to background electrons, electron attachment to and detachment from atoms and oxygen molecule, recharging, and anion-neutral electron exchange is considered. The dependences of the rates of ion-molecular processes on the temperature and electric field strength are examined.     

Modeling the triggering of streamers in air by ultrashort laserpulses

The physical processes involved in the triggering of ionization waves (streamers) by ultrashort laser pulses, focused in air at 350 Torr and in a uniform electric field, are investigated by means of a one-dimensional (1-D) numerical model. The model describes the interaction of the laser pulse with air and takes into account many of the reactions in the laser-created plasma as well as the radial expansion of the plasma. Consequences of the model are that the threshold electric field for the appearance of streamers is an increasing function of the delay between the laser pulse and the electric field pulse and a decreasing function of the laser energy. Also, it appears that the electron temperature, the plasma density and radius, and the conduction of heat across the plasma boundaries play major roles in the capacity of the laser-created plasma to trigger streamers. The results of the model are compared with the available experimental data     

On the determination of vertical profiles of temperature, charge concentration, and potential in the surface layer of an aircraft

A “3/2 law” law has been established for the vertical charge concentration profile (i.e., the particle concentration is proportional to temperature to a power of 3/2). The expression is derived for the electric field potential produced by charged particles at the upper boundary of the viscous sublayer, as well as for the density current produced by charged particles moving in the air flow streamlining an aircraft. It is shown that all these parameters increase with altitude and assume maximum values at the turbulent layer surface.     

Impact ionization effects at interfaces between solid dielectrics and insulating oil or air,during high voltage pulse applications

In this paper, an investigation of the impact ionization effects at interfaces between common industrial solid dielectrics and air or insulating oil, under the application of strong, fast rising electric fields (dF/dt10¹⁴ V m^-1s^-1), is presented. In the prebreakdown stages, the outbreak of partial discharges at an interface may come as the result of impact ionization and plays a very important role in the dielectric aging procedure. Experimental results show that the threshold electric field for the onset of partial discharges is considerably lower in the case of a solid dielectric-air interface, than the corresponding one in the case of a solid dielectric-oil interface. In addition, it is experimentally confirmed that an electromagnetic radiation is emitted. The spectral distribution of this radiation was found to extend up to the ultraviolet region, during the experiments.     

Mechanism for the streamer propagation toward the anode and cathode due to background electron multiplication

A simple mechanism for the propagation of an ionization wave in a dense gas due to the multiplication of background electrons in a nonuniform electric field is proposed. The mechanism does not depend on the sign of the field projection onto the streamer propagation direction. The streamer propagation is caused by the enhancement of the electric field at the streamer head. It is shown that, in a prebreakdown field, the intense multiplication of electrons takes place in both electropositive and electronegative gases. The prebreakdown multiplication can provide a fairly high density of background electrons; this allows one to treat the background as a continuous medium when considering streamer propagation as a multiplication wave. The initial ionization is enabled by the natural background of ionizing radiation and cosmic rays. An analytical expression for the velocity of the ionization front is obtained based on a simple equation for the multiplication of background electrons. This expression is in good agreement with numerical simulations performed within both a simple model of background electron multiplication and a more comprehensive drift-diffusion model. In particular, the drift-diffusion model predicts the propagation of the ionization front from a small-radius anode to the cathode due to the multiplication of background electrons. The velocity of the ionization wave front is calculated as a function of the electric field at the streamer head for helium, xenon, nitrogen, and sulfur hexafluoride. It is shown that some features of streamer propagation (e.g., its jerky motion) can be related to the recently found nonmonotonic dependence of ionization frequency on the electric field.