ELECTRICAL BREAKDOWN IN THE ATMOSPHERE

Abstract

Measurements of the electrical fields required to initiate breakdown in five resonant cavities, at a frequency of 9.4 kmc, in air and in nitrogen and in oxygen are described. The cavities are of varying sizes and have characteristic diffusion lengths varying from 0.104 to 1.32 cm. The pressures vary from about 0.08 to 120 mm of mercury, corresponding to 12 to 65 km altitude. Results indicate that extrapolation from existing data at one frequency to predictions at other frequencies is not straightforward when the characteristic diffusion length is large. Detailed analysis of an experiment to measure attachment in oxygen and collision cross-sections in oxygen, nitrogen, and air by means of a beam experiment are presented. Feasibility of the crucial components required to make measurements of beam regions down to .05 ev was shown, and construction of the apparatus for the experiment is under way. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 12, 1961
Accession Number
AD0263466

Entities

People

  • A.d. Macdonald
  • H.w. Bandel

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Altitude
  • Atmospheres
  • Attachment
  • Cavity Resonators
  • Collisions
  • Construction
  • Diffusion
  • Extrapolation
  • Frequency
  • Measurement
  • Nitrogen
  • Pressure Measurement

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Microwave Engineering.
  • Plasma Physics.