Investigation of characteristics of electric field arising from electrostatic discharge

The paper presents the experimental results of determination of the electric fields characteristics around ESD source on dielectric materials of spacecraft. For that purpose, the authors consider different types of ESD impact factors to board the equipment such as electromagnetic interference, capacitive interference and current injection to the equipment body. Each impact factor has its own physical bases caused by the interactions between the dielectric material of spacecraft and plasma of magnetosphere. To provide necessary impact conditions the authors applied the special generator with gas discharge device as ESD source. This device can be modified by different types of antennas which correspond to all ESD impact factors considered in this work. The generator also provides necessary characteristics of primary discharge such as time front, amplitude and frequency of current pulses. Using special workplace which includes positioning device for making measurements of electric field intensity in spherical coordinate system the authors obtained extensive statistics about electric field fluctuations caused by ESD. From the results it follows that the most significant electric field fluctuations corresponds to discharge current injection. Obtained electric field characteristics from ESD could be very helpful in security for radiated electromagnetic compatibility of spacecraft because its influence can lead to anomalies in spacecraft equipment functioning. The results of investigation could be applied in electromagnetic compatibility.