Temporal measurements of nitrogen VUV emissions have been performed for the first time from 1 Torr to atmospheric pressure. For the binary collision rate constant associated to the decay of a(1)Pi(g) state, we have found a new value which is attributed to the a(1)Pi(g) <-> w(1)Delta(u) strong coupling. Moreover a zero-dimension kinetic model has been used in order to choose among different kinetic schemes proposed in literature the one which best describes our measured excited states temporal evolution. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.