ABSTRACT
The spatiotemporal evolution of the plasma induced by interaction of an Nd-YAG laser pulse with the surface of distilled water is described. The temporal evolution from 200 ns after the plasma creation to 2200 ns of the H α and H β lines is reported. Supposing the local thermodynamic equilibrium, the two plasma parameters, electron density and temperature, are determined, including the influence of the self-absorption on its measurements. The spatial evolution of the H β intensity and of the electron density is given.