In our preliminary studies, as well as in the papers of other authors, it was found that during pulsed discharges of short duration, the electrode material determines the composition of the vapors that evaporate from the electrodes and diffuse into the gap, including due to shock waves and turbulence. Since under these conditions diffuse discharges, at which the voltage across the gap remains high are formed, metal vapors are excited and ionized together with gas molecules in the discharge gap. This leads to the emission of radiation at various spectral transitions of metal atoms. Only a part of these transitions has a high radiation intensity in the region of interest to researchers. Also, to obtain a high intensity of radiation, transitions of atoms in metal vapors can be used, which are populated as a result of the efficient transfer of energy from excited gas molecules and atoms. Metals, the color of the emission of vapors of which, when excited in the plasma of nanosecond discharges, corresponds to the color of high-altitude atmospheric discharges, were chosen as the material of the electrodes.
The choice of the electrode material should be clearly explained in the present paper.