In this paper we present an approach to obtain high current through a wall-stabilized electric arc operating at atmospheric pressure. Some of the basic plasma characteristics are presented during two different current pulses applied to the arc. Electron densities obtained by applying the current pulses were 1.3 × 10 23 m −3 and 1.6 × 10 23 m −3 with corresponding electron temperatures of 13 500 K and 14 100 K, respectively. As examples of plasma emission, Stark halfwidths of five spectral lines emitted from argon ions and one emitted from neutral atoms are given.