Some insights into the dynamics of long-lived atmospheric pressure plasmoids.

This paper describes the generation and time evolution of a spherical plasmoid generated from the surface of a conducting liquid. Based on an extensive series of experimental studies, the process of plasma formation and the mechanism responsible for the transport of this plasma into the plasmoid are discussed. Optical emission spectra from different parts of the surface discharge at different times are obtained. The presence of Balmer series is characteristic of the jet, which weakens as the current decreases and the atomic natrium line, which is the main line in the plasmoid spectra, becomes dominant.