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Dwyer et al. 2005
Dwyer, J.R., Rassoul, H.K., Saleh, Z., Uman, M.A., Jerauld, J. and Plumer, J.A. (2005). X-ray bursts produced by laboratory sparks in air. Geophysical Research Letters 32: doi: 10.1029/2005GL024027. issn: 0094-8276.

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).

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Abstract

Keywords
Electromagnetics, Plasmas, Atmospheric Processes, Atmospheric Processes, Atmospheric electricity, Atmospheric Processes, Lightning
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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