Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Geophysical Research Letters
Abstract
X-ray observations were made during fourteen 1.5 to 2.0 m high-voltage discharges in air produced by a 1.5 MV Marx circuit. All 14 discharges generated x-rays in the ∼30 to 150 keV range. The x-rays, which arrived in discrete bursts, less than 0.5 microseconds in duration, occurred from both positive and negative polarity rod-to-plane discharges as well as from small, 5-10 cm series spark gaps within the Marx generator. The x-ray bursts usually occurred when either the voltages across the gaps were the largest or were in the process of collapsing. The bursts are remarkably similar to the x-ray bursts previously observed from lightning. These results should allow for the detailed laboratory study of runaway breakdown, a mechanism that may play a role in thunderstorm electrification, lightning initiation and propagation, and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs).
DOI
10.1029/2005GL024027
Publication Date
2005
Recommended Citation
Dwyer, Joseph R.; Rassoul, Hamid K.; Saleh, Ziad H.; Uman, Martin A.; Jerauld, J.; and Plumer, J. Anderson, "X-ray Bursts Produced By Laboratory Sparks In Air" (2005). Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications. 484.
https://repository.fit.edu/apss_faculty/484