Abstract. A high-frequency (HF) electromagnetic wave propagates along the waveguiding structure formed by a dielectric tube and plasma column, which is sustained by the field of the wave itself. The plasma column is axially inhomogeneous and the electron temperature is much higher than the neutral gas temperature. The modelling of such type of plasma requires a self-consistent description of gas discharge kinetics and wave propagation. An axial model based on the numerical solving of the full set of kinetic and electrodynamic equations is proposed. The results for the axial distributions of plasma and wave characteristics obtained by the model are compared with available experimental data and other models.

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