Abstract
Localized plasma formations called space leaders are observed in streamer coronas of negative leaders of long laboratory sparks. The main leader completes a step when the space leader comes into contact with the head of the main leader. In the present work, we discuss the creation mechanism of local plasma formations (henceforth, generally, referred to as the hot spots) that are able to initiate a space leader. It is assumed that spontaneous increase in the conductivity in a local region of one of the streamers of the main leader corona initiates two secondary coronas from the ends of this region. The corona current warms up the region, leading to formation of the hot spot, provided that the magnitude of the field in the heated region is sufficiently high. Finally, hot spots grow into the space leader with further increase in the temperature and conductivity. The necessary condition for achieving the temperature of ≈2000 K in the hot spot within the observation time of tobs ≤ 1 µs is the magnitude of the ambient electric field strength E0 = 20 kV cm–1 that is almost twice higher than the average magnitude of the electric field strength of ≈11 kV cm–1 in a negative corona.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Yu. P. Raizer, Gas Discharge Physics (Nauka, Moscow, 1987; Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1991).
E. M. Bazelyan and Yu. P. Raizer, Spark Discharge (MFTI, Moscow, 1997; CRC, Boca Raton, 1998).
E. M. Bazelyan and Yu. P. Raizer, Lightning Physics and Lightning Protection (IOP, Bristol, 2000).
V. A. Rakov and M. A. Uman, Lightning: Physics and Effects (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003).
B. N. Gorin and A. B. Shkilev, Elektrichestvo, No. 6, 31 (1976).
T. Reess, A. Ortega, A. Gibert, P. Domens, and P. Pignolet, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 28, 2306 (1995).
I. Gallimberti, G. Baccega, A. Bondion-Clergerie, and P. Lalande, C. R. Phys. 3, 1335 (2002).
P. Ortega, H. Domens, A. Giber, B. Hutzier, and G. Riquel, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 27, 2379 (1994).
J. R. Dwyer, H. K. Rassoul, M. Al-Dayeh, L. Caraway, A. Chrest, B. Wright, E. Kozak, J. Jerauld, M. A. Uman, V. A. Rakov, D. M. Jordan, and K. J. Rambo, Geophys. Res. Lett. 32, L01803 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL021782
J. R. Dwyer and M. A. Uman, Phys. Rep. 534, 147 (2013).
P. O. Kochkin, A. P. J. van Deursen, and U. Ebert, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 47, 145203 (2014).
P. O. Kochkin, C. Köhn, U. Ebert, and A. P. J. van Deursen, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 25, 44002 (2016).
P. Kochkin, N. Lehtinen, A. P. J. van Deursen, and N. Østgaard, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 49, 425203 (2016).
A. Y. Kostinskiy, V. S. Syssoev, N. A. Bogatov, E. A. Mareev, M. G. Andreev, M. U. Bulatov, D. I. Sukharevsky, and V. A. Rakov, J. Geophys. Res.: Atmos. 123, 5360 (2018).
D. Petersen, M. Bailey, W. Beasley, and J. Hallett, J. Geophys. Res. 113, D17205 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD009036
N. A. Popov, Plasma Phys. Rep. 29, 695 (2003).
J. A. Riousset, V. P. Pasko, and A. Bourdon, J. Geophys. Res. 115, A12321 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JA015918
I. A. Kossyi, A. Y. Kostinsky, A. A. Matveyev, and V. P. Silakov, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 1, 207 (1992).
M. S. Benilov and G. V. Naidis, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 36, 1834 (2003).
N. Y. Liu and V. P. Pasko, J. Geophys. Res. 109, A04301 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JA010064
N. L. Aleksandrov, A. E. Bazelyan, E. M. Bazelyan, and I. V. Kochetov, Plasma Phys. Rep. 21, 57 (1995).
R. Morrow and J. J. Lowke, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 30, 614 (1997).
G. V. Naidis, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 32, 2649 (1999).
G. V. Naidis, Phys. Rev. E 79, 057401 (2009).
M. Černák, E. M. van Veldhuizen, I. Morva, and W. R. Rutgers, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 28, 1126 (1995).
A. Larsson, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 31, 1100 (1998).
C. T. Phelps, J. Atmos. Sol.–Terr. Phys. 36, 103 (1974).
A. Luque and U. Ebert, New J. Phys. 16, 013039 (2014).
M. G. Andreev, N. A. Bogatov, A. Y. Kostinskiy, L. M. Makal’sky, E. A. Mareev, D. I. Suharevsky, and V. S. Syssoev, in Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Atmospheric Electricity, Norman, OK, 2014, Paper O-03-08.
P. O. Kochkin, C. V. Nguyen, A. P. J. van Deursen, and U. Ebert, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 45, 425202 (2012).
M. Arrayás, U. Ebert, and W. Hundsdorfer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 174502 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.174502
E. D. Lozanskii and O. B. Firsov, Theory of Spark (Atomizdat, Moscow, 1975) [in Russian].
E. D. Lozansky and O. B. Firsov, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 6, 976 (1973).
L. B. Loeb, J. Geophys. Res. 71, 4711 (1966).
A. Dubinova, C. Rutjes, U. Ebert, S. Buitink, O. Scholten, and Gia Thi Ngoc Trinh, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 015002 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.015002
L. P. Babich, E. I. Bochkov, and T. Neubert, J. Atmos. Sol.–Terr. Phys. 154, 43 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2016.12.010
L. P. Babich and E. I. Bochkov, Plasma Phys. Rep. 44, 527 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063780X18050033
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kutsyk, I.M., Babich, L.P. Heating of a Local Region of a Branching Streamer as a Starting Point of a Space Leader and a Negative-Leader Step. Plasma Phys. Rep. 47, 251–256 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063780X21030089
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063780X21030089