Microwave streamer discharge in a supersonic air flow

Data are presented from experiments on the ignition of a pulsed, triggered microwave streamer discharge at the focus of a cm-band TEM wave in an immer sed supersonic air jet. It is shown experimentally that for velocities of t he air in the jet up to 500 m/s, the structure of the discharge remains qua litatively unchanged and retains its streamer character. The finite size of the transverse cross section of the jet determines some features of the di scharge. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7842(99)00311-6].