A computational model is used to investigate the characteristics of atmospheric radio frequency discharges by increasing frequency from 20 to 100 MHz at a constant power density. The simulation results show that increasing frequency can effectively enhance electron density before the transition frequency but after it the ignition is quenched then the electron density decreases. However this simulation also indicates the maximum time-averaged electron energy reduces monotonically with the excitation frequency increasing at a constant power density. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3496474]