Energy Balance in Coronal Holes and Solar Wind Streams

1977 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 421-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.B. Zirker

Coronal holes are regions of depressed density and temperature in the inner corona that coincide with open magnetic field lines. They were recognized for many years on eclipse photographs, but real understanding of their importance began to emerge only after data from rocket and satellite observations were analyzed. Wilson (1976) has summarized the early history of research on coronal holes.

1983 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 473-477
Author(s):  
H. Biernat ◽  
N. Kömle ◽  
H. Rucker

In the vicinity of the Sun — especially above coronal holes — the magnetic field lines show strong non-radial divergence and considerable curvature (see e.g. Kopp and Holzer, 1976; Munro and Jackson, 1977; Ripken, 1977). In the following we study the influence of these characteristics on the expansion velocity of the solar wind.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S354) ◽  
pp. 228-231
Author(s):  
Chia-Hsien Lin ◽  
Guan-Han Huang ◽  
Lou-Chuang Lee

AbstractCoronal holes can be identified as the darkest regions in EUV or soft X-ray images with predominantly unipolar magnetic fields (LIRs) or as the regions with open magnetic fields (OMF). Our study reveals that only 12% of OMF regions are coincident with LIRs. The aim of this study is to investigate the conditions that affect the EUV intensity of OMF regions. Our results indicate that the EUV intensity and the magnetic field expansion factor of the OMF regions are weakly positively correlated when plotted in logarithmic scale, and that the bright OMF regions are likely to locate inside or next to the regions with closed field lines. We empirically determined a linear relationship between the expansion factor and the EUV intensity. The relationship is demonstrated to improve the consistency from 12% to 23%. The results have been published in Astrophysical Journal (Huang et al. 2019).


Author(s):  
Mingming Meng ◽  
Ying Liu ◽  
Chong Chen ◽  
Rui Wang

Abstract The S-shaped magnetic structure in the solar wind formed by the twisting of magnetic field lines is called a switchback, whose main characteristics are the reversal of the magnetic field and the significant increase in the solar wind radial velocity. We identify 242 switchbacks during the first two encounters of Parker Solar Probe (PSP). Statistics methods are applied to analyze the distribution and the rotation angle and direction of the magnetic field rotation of the switchbacks. The diameter of switchbacks is estimated with a minimum variance analysis (MVA) method based on the assumption of a cylindrical magnetic tube. We also make a comparison between switchbacks from inside and the boundary of coronal holes. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) the rotation angles of switchbacks observed during the first encounter seem larger than those of the switchbacks observed during the second encounter in general; (2) the tangential component of the velocity inside the switchbacks tends to be more positive (westward) than in the ambient solar wind; (3) switchbacks are more likely to rotate clockwise than anticlockwise, and the number of switchbacks with clockwise rotation is 1.48 and 2.65 times of those with anticlockwise rotation during the first and second encounters, respectively; (4) the diameter of switchbacks is about 10^5 km on average and across five orders of magnitude (10^3 – 10^7 km).


1980 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 73-78
Author(s):  
J. N. Tandon

Recent observations of large scale coronal structures and solar wind have been studied. The intercorrelation of the two have been qualitatively explained through the focussing of solar-ion streams taking account of the local and general solar magnetic fields. This explains the association of coronal holes with weak, diverging open magnetic field lines and envisages the transfer of hydromagnetic wave energy from nearby active centers to account for the enhanced outflow of solar wind associated with coronal holes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S354) ◽  
pp. 215-223
Author(s):  
Barbara Perri ◽  
Allan Sacha Brun ◽  
Antoine Strugarek ◽  
Victor Réville

AbstractThough generated deep inside the convection zone, the solar magnetic field has a direct impact on the Earth space environment via the Parker spiral. It strongly modulates the solar wind in the whole heliosphere, especially its latitudinal and longitudinal speed distribution over the years. However the wind also influences the topology of the coronal magnetic field by opening the magnetic field lines in the coronal holes, which can affect the inner magnetic field of the star by altering the dynamo boundary conditions. This coupling is especially difficult to model because it covers a large variety of spatio-temporal scales. Quasi-static studies have begun to help us unveil how the dynamo-generated magnetic field shapes the wind, but the full interplay between the solar dynamo and the solar wind still eludes our understanding.We use the compressible magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) code PLUTO to compute simultaneously in 2.5D the generation and evolution of magnetic field inside the star via an α-Ω dynamo process and the corresponding evolution of a polytropic coronal wind over several activity cycles for a young Sun. A multi-layered boundary condition at the surface of the star connects the inner and outer stellar layers, allowing both to adapt dynamically. Our continuously coupled dynamo-wind model allows us to characterize how the solar wind conditions change as a function of the cycle phase, and also to quantify the evolution of integrated quantities such as the Alfvén radius. We further assess the impact of the solar wind on the dynamo itself by comparing our results with and without wind feedback.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guan-Han Huang ◽  
Chia-Hsien Lin ◽  
Lou Chuang Lee

<p>Coronal holes can be identified as the regions with magnetic field lines extending far away from the Sun, or the darkest regions in EUV/X-ray images with predominantly unipolar magnetic fields. A comparison between the locations of our determined regions with open magnetic field lines (OMF) and regions with low EUV intensity (LIR) reveals that only 12% of the OMF regions coincide with the LIRs. The aim of this study is to investigate the conditions leading to the different brightnesses of OMF regions, and to provide a means to predict whether an OMF region would be bright or dark. Examining the statistical distribution profiles of the magnetic field expansion factor (f<sub>s</sub>) and Atmospheric Imaging Assembly 193 Å intensity (I<sub>193</sub>) reveals that both profiles are approximately log-normal. The analysis of the spatial and temporal distributions of f<sub>s</sub> and I<sub>193</sub> indicates that the bright OMF regions often are inside or next to regions with closed field lines, including quiet-Sun regions and regions with strong magnetic fields. Examining the relationship between I<sub>193</sub> and f<sub>s</sub> reveals a weak positive correlation between log I<sub>193</sub> and log f<sub>s</sub> , with a correlation coefficient ≈ 0.39. As a first-order approximation, the positive relationship is determined to be log I<sub>193</sub> = 0.62 log f<sub>s</sub> + 1.51 based on the principle of the whitening/dewhitening transformation. This linear relationship is demonstrated to increase the consistency between the OMF regions and LIRs from 12% to 23%.</p>


1995 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 310-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Von Steiger

The composition of the solar wind (SW) is not a true sample of the solar composition, but it is fractionated with respect to the solar photosphere. This fractionation follows the well-known first ionization potential (FIP) pattern: When plotting the SW abundances with respect to the solar abundances as a function of FIP, a step function is obtained (Fig. 1). The step at ∼ 10eV has a height of 3-5 in the slow SW, but this is reduced to 1.5-2 in the fast streams, which originate in the coronal holes. The data given in Fig. 1 are collected and discussed in von Steiger & Geiss (1994), including the “FIP exceptions”, Kr and Xe.The process leading to the observed overabundance of the low-FIPs has been located to operate by atom-ion separation across magnetic field lines in the chromosphere (Geiss, 1982), because this is the only region of the solar atmosphere where a significant fraction of the gas is neutral. The fractionated abundances observed in the S W are thus important tracers for processes and conditions at this site.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (S335) ◽  
pp. 307-309
Author(s):  
Ljubomir Nikolić

AbstractThe potential-field source-surface (PFSS) model of the solar corona is a widely used tool in the space weather research and operations. In particular, the PFSS model is used in solar wind forecast models which empirically associate solar wind properties with the numerically derived coronal magnetic field. In the PFSS model, the spherical surface where magnetic field lines are forced to open is typically placed at 2.5 solar radii. However, the results presented here suggest that setting this surface (the source-surface) to lower heights can provide a better agreement between observed and modelled coronal holes during the current solar cycle. Furthermore, the lower heights of the source-surface provide a better match between observed and forecasted solar wind speed.


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