In this letter, the electrical and optical characteristics of pulse-modulated radio-frequency atmospheric pressure glow discharge are presented. The 13.56 MHz glow discharge is modulated with pulses at repetition frequency of 100 kHz. It is shown that the discharge during power on has similar characteristics to that of discharge without pulsing, except during the discharge ignition and extinguishment phase. The spatio-temporal evolution of discharge in phases of ignition and extinguishment is studied by time-resolved imaging and optical emission spectrograph. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.