A model has been developed for a surface wave sustained hydrogen discharge
which, in a self-consistent way, accounts for the main plasma balances gove
rning the discharge production, including bull; and surface processes. The
approach used self-consistently describes the axial discharge structure, i.
e. the axial distribution of charged particle concentrations, population de
nsities of excited species and neutrals, taking into account inhomogeneous
gas heating along the plasma column as well as plasma-wall interactions. A
spatially resolved experimental investigation into the distribution of elec
tron density, atomic line intensity and gas temperature confirms the main t
rends of the model predictions.