Title: Pilot system development in metre-scale laboratory discharge,
Abstract: The pilot system development in metre-scale negative laboratory discharges is
studied with ns-fast photography. The systems appear as bipolar structures in
the vicinity of the negative high-voltage electrode. They appear as a result of
a single negative streamer propagation and determine further discharge
development. Such systems possess features like glowing beads, bipolarity,
different brightness of the top and bottom parts, and mutual reconnection. A 1D
model of the ionization evolution in the spark gap is proposed. In the process
of the nonlinear development of ionization growth, the model shows features
similar to those observed. The visual similarities between high-altitude
sprites and laboratory pilots are striking and may indicate that they are two
manifestations of the same natural phenomenon.