Аннотация:The glow of an electrically ionized discharge in nitrogen was investigated experimentally at room and cryogenic temperatures for the same initial gas density of 1 amagat. The reduced intensity of the electric field varied over the range 0.5-2.0middot10-6 Vmiddotcm2 and the beam current density of the fast electrons varied over the range 100-300 muA/cm2. It was found that the dependence of the glow discharge on time has a maximum. In moist nitrogen and in mixtures of nitrogen with hydrogen or carbon monoxide the maximum goes away. A model is developed of the electron kinetic processes which explains the behavior of the afterglow as a function of time and as a function of the experimental conditions.