Properties of space and time distribution of solar coronal holes

The space and time distribution properties of solar coronal holes (CH) are investigated. The data of the catalogue UAG-102, supplemented up to 1995, and synoptic H-charts of Solar Geophysical Data are used. It was found that both the polar and equatorial CH can be divided into two subclasses. The properties of time classes are discerned. Statistical weights of the recurrent CH are accounted, which allow to determine the character of rotation of the different classes of CH with more accuracy. It was shown that the equatorial CH with long lifetimes possess differential rotation that is similar to sunspot groups, and the long-living polar CH rotate as a rigid body. A conclusion about the existence of two types of large-scale solar magnetic fields is made.     

Evolution of polar coronal holes and sunspots during cycles 21 and 22

A very good correlation between the evolution of polar coronal hole size and sunspot number half a solar cycle later was found by Bravo and Otaola for solar cycle 21. In this paper we use a more complete set of data to reanalyse the relationship for solar cycle 21 and investigate the same relationship for solar cycle 22. We find that the complete set of data for cycle 21 yields a slightly different time shift for the best correlation between sunspots and holes and that the time shift for cycle 22 is different from that of cycle 21. However, because of limited availability of data of cycle 22, we consider it necessary to wait until the end of this cycle in order to decide if the difference is statistically significant or not. We also found that the time between successive peaks of smoothed polar hole area and smoothed sunspot number is the same in both cycles. This may provide a useful tool for the forecasting of future sunspot maxima. The constant of proportionality between polar coronal hole area and sunspot number can be seen to be different in both cycles. We discuss this difference and interpret it in terms of a different magnitude of the polar field strength in the two cycles.     

Relationship between the coronal holes and high-speed streams of solar wind

The relationship between two classes of coronal holes and high-speed quasi-stationary streams of solar wind at the Earth’s orbit is investigated. “Open” coronal holes, whose area is invariable or increases with the height over the solar surface, are rated in the first class, and “closed” coronal holes with areas decreasing with the height are referred to as second-class holes. The parameters of the coronal holes are determined from IR and EUV images and spectroheliograms. It is shown that most open coronal holes can be associated with high-speed solar-wind streams, while most closed coronal holes exhibit a much lower correlation with such streams.     

Polar coronal plumes

Polar coronal plumes are modeled using concentrations of magnetic flux at 1.01R , and assuming the field is current-free, or a potential field. Identifying the density enhancement of plumes with magnetic flux concentration produces good agreement between 1.01R and 1.10R , for model conditions of a large background magnetic field and a plume separation of 50 000 to 70 000 km at the base. Beyond 1.10R , both plumes and the potential field diverge very nearly as r ².Also Department of Astrogeophysics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo. 80309, U.S.A. Presently visiting Stanford University Institute for Plasma Research, Via Crespi, Stanford, Calif. 94303, U.S.A.     

Acceleration of the solar wind by whistler waves from coronal holes

We investigate the possibility of an additional acceleration of the high speed solar wind by whistler waves propagating outward from a coronal hole. We consider a stationary, spherically symmetric model and assume a radial wind flow as well as a radial magnetic field. The energy equation consists of (a) energy transfer of the electron beam which excites the whistler waves, and (b) energy transfer of the whistler waves described by conservation of wave action density. The momentum conservation equation includes the momentum transfer of two gases (a thermal gas and an electron beam). The variation of the temperature is described by a polytropic law. The variation of solar wind velocity with the radial distance is calculated for different values of energy density of the whistler waves. It is shown that the acceleration of high speed solar wind in the coronal hole due to the whistler waves is very important. We have calculated that the solar wind velocity at the earth's orbit is about equal to 670 km/sec (for wave energy density about 10^?4 erg cm^?3 at 1.1R⊙). It is in approximate agreement with the observed values.     

Polar coronal holes and the sunspot cycle. A new method to predict sunspot numbers

Twenty years ago, Ohl (1966, 1968) found a correlation between geomagnetic activity around the minimum of the solar cycle and the Wolf sunspot number in the maximum of the following solar cycle. In this paper we shall show that such a relation means indeed a relation between the polar coronal holes area around the minimum of the solar cycle and the sunspot number in the maximum of the next. In fact, a very high positive correlation exists between the temporal evolution of the size of polar coronal holes and the Wolf sunspot number 6.3. years later.     

Oscillations in the lower solar atmosphere at the base of coronal holes

The oscillatory processes in the relatively quiet solar atmosphere, at the base of an extensive coronal hole, have been investigated. The properties of the oscillations in a number of parameters related mainly to the Ca II line intensity have been analyzed in areas belonging to various chromospheric network structures (cells, networks, flocculi, etc.). The goal of this study was to reveal peculiarities of the oscillatory process in the spatial areas located (in projection) at the center of a coronal hole, near its boundary, and at a bright coronal point at various heights of the solar atmosphere (from the photosphere to the middle chromosphere). In most structural elements, the low- and high-frequency components of the spectrum have been found to increase and decrease, respectively, with height. The oscillatory power of the low-frequency oscillations is at a maximum in the areas bordering the bright magnetic network elements. The power of the three-minute, five-minute, and low-frequency oscillations decreases at the centers of the bright chromospheric network. The phase relations point to the propagation of waves mainly at the boundaries of the bright chromospheric network and intermediate (in brightness) network elements. In two of the three investigated regions, the power of the five-minute oscillations (2.4–4.0 mHz) in cells is higher than that of the three-minute ones (5.2–6.8 mHz) at the investigated levels of the quiet solar atmosphere.     

Flow-tube dynamics and coronal holes

We reexamine the well-known polytropic flow-tube model of the expanding solar corona, and find that as the divergence of the flow tube increases the expansion speed increases throughout the flow, over a stated parameter range. Corresponding to a specified flow-tube geometry the terminal speed of the fluid may be far in excess of the value corresponding to purely spherically symmetric flow. The implications of the results for the modelling of high-speed streams emanating from coronal holes are discussed.     

A survey of coronal holes and their solar wind associations throughout sunspot cycle 20

To gain insight into the relationships between solar activity, the occurrence and variability of coronal holes, and the association of such holes with solar wind features such as high-velocity streams, a study of the period 1963–1974 was made. This period corresponds approximately with sunspot cycle 20. The primary data used for this work consisted of X-ray and XUV solar images obtained from rockets. The investigation revealed that:

1. The polar coronal holes prominent at solar minimum, decreased in area as solar activity increased and were small or absent at maximum phase. This evolution exhibited the same phase difference between the two hemispheres that was observed in other indicators of activity.
2. During maximum, coronal holes occurred poleward of the sunspot belts and in the equatorial region between them. The observed equatorial holes were small and persisted for one or two solar rotations only; some high latitude holes had lifetimes exceeding two solar rotations.
3. During 1963–74 whenever XUV or X-ray images were available, nearly all recurrent solar wind streams of speed ?500 km s^?1 were found associated with coronal holes at less than 40° latitude; however some coronal holes appeared to have no associated wind streams at the Earth.

     

On a possible control mechanism for solar wind outflow velocity from coronal holes

In this paper we give an explanation for a control mechanism for velocityV of solar wind (SW) streams for coronal holes (CHs) based on the idea suggested by Rudenko and Fainshtein (1993). In accordance with that idea, the difference of values ofV in high-speed SW streams from different CHs is due to the spread in magnitude of magnetic fieldB _a in the region of acceleration of such streams near the Sun. In this case, with increasing magnitude ofB _a, there is an increase in velocity of the high-speed stream.Through calculations of the coronal magnetic field (potential-field approximation) it is shown that on the source surface the magnetic field B _s, averaged over the cross-section of the magnetic tube from a CH, can vary for different tubes over a wide range and correlates quite well with the area of this tube's base as well as depending on the radial component of the magnetic field at the base of the tube on the source surface B _or.It is found that the value of superradial divergence of the magnetic tube from a CH depends not only on the area of its base (as shown in prior work) but also on B _or. A positive correlation at the Earth's orbit between velocityV of the high-speed SW and the radial component of the magnetic field in the region of this stream is detected, which agrees indirectly with theV-control mechanism under discussion.     

Solar mass ejections and coronal holes

In this paper we present observations of two types of solar mass ejections, which seem to be associated with the location of coronal, holes. In the first type, a filament eruption was observed near a coronal hole, which gave rise to a strong interplanetary scintillations. as detected by IPS observations. In the second type, several large scale soft X-ray blow-outs were observed in the YOHKOH SXT X-ray movies, in all the cases they erupted from or near the boundary of coronal holes and over the magnetic neutral line. It is proposed that the open magnetic field configuration of the coronal hole provides, the necessary field structure for reconnection to take place, which in turn is responsible for filament eruption, from relatively lower heights. While, in the case of X-ray blow-outs, the reconnection takes place at a greater height, resulting in high temperature soft X-ray emission visible as X-ray blow-outs.     

Morphology, dynamics and plasma parameters of plumes and inter-plume regions in solar coronal holes

Coronal plumes, which extend from solar coronal holes (CH) into the high corona and??possibly??into the solar wind (SW), can now continuously be studied with modern telescopes and spectrometers on spacecraft, in addition to investigations from the ground, in particular, during total eclipses. Despite the large amount of data available on these prominent features and related phenomena, many questions remained unanswered as to their generation and relative contributions to the high-speed streams emanating from CHs. An understanding of the processes of plume formation and evolution requires a better knowledge of the physical conditions at the base of CHs, in plumes and in the surrounding inter-plume regions. More specifically, information is needed on the magnetic field configuration, the electron densities and temperatures, effective ion temperatures, non-thermal motions, plume cross sections relative to the size of a CH, the plasma bulk speeds, as well as any plume signatures in the SW. In spring 2007, the authors proposed a study on ??Structure and dynamics of coronal plumes and inter-plume regions in solar coronal holes?? to the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern to clarify some of these aspects by considering relevant observations and the extensive literature. This review summarizes the results and conclusions of the study. Stereoscopic observations allowed us to include three-dimensional reconstructions of plumes. Multi-instrument investigations carried out during several campaigns led to progress in some areas, such as plasma densities, temperatures, plume structure and the relation to other solar phenomena, but not all questions could be answered concerning the details of plume generation process(es) and interaction with the SW.     

Extreme-ultraviolet observations of coronal holes

The disk boundaries of coronal holes have been systematically determined from XUV observations taken during the manned Skylab missions (June 1973–January 1974). The resulting Atlas was used to find the sizes, global distributions, differential rotation rates, growth/decay rates and lifetimes of holes during this period. The polar cap holes together covered 15% of the Sun's total surface area, a number which remained surprisingly constant throughout Skylab despite the fact that each pole was independently evolving in time. Lower latitude holes contributed another 2 to 5%. The anomalous differential rotation law derived for a large north-south hole by Timothy et al. (1975) has been confirmed. However, other Skylab holes were too low in latitude to demonstrate the generality of this result. The average growth/decay rate for holes was 1.5 × 10⁴ km² s^-1, in excellent agreement with the value used by Leighton (1964) for his successful treatment of the surface transport of solar magnetic fields. The lifetimes of lower-latitude holes are found to regularly exceed 5 solar rotations, in good agreement with the lifetimes of recurrent geomagnetic storms with which holes are now known to be associated.     

Energy budget in coronal holes

It is shown that the constancy of the ratio between conductive flux and pressure squared as one goes from quiet regions to holes (regions of exceptionally low density and temperature) in the solar corona, observed in the case of the first well-studied coronal hole, implies that a strong solar wind is likely to originate in coronal holes.On leave of absence from Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Florence, Italy.     

Differential rotation of coronal holes

Using KPNO helium 10830 Å synoptic charts of Carrington rotations 1716 through 1739, and by assembling a time sequence representing single latitude zone, rotational properties of coronal holes for five zones of latitudes (±10°, ±20° – ±40°, and ±40° – ±60°) have been examined. It seems that the rotation period of coronal holes is a function of latitude, thus reflecting differential rotation of coronal holes.     

Determination of the solar minimum period between cycles 22 and 23 from the coronal index of solar activity

We present the coronal index of solar activity (CI) for 1997 and use the 1996 and 1997 data to examine the properties of the solar minimum between cycles 22 and 23. To compute CI, we used only the intensities of the green corona from Lomnický tít and Sacramento Peak coronal stations. Values of CI were low in the first half of 1997 with an increase from September toward the end of 1997. We determined the minimum in the green corona to be May 1996, which is in coincidence with the results from 2800 MHz radio flux, the Mg II index and the Wolf number.     

Polar faculae and sunspot cycles

The monthly number of polar faculae of the Sun were determined from white-light images at spectral band (eff) = (4100 ± 200) Å obtained at the Kislovodsk Solar Station during 1960–1994. Corrected monthly numbers were obtained with the help of the visibility function. The level of polar activity larger than 1 above the monthly running mean was calculated, and the relation between the polar faculae and sunspot cycle was studied. We confirmed earlier results (Makarov and Makarova, 1987) that the monthly number of polar faculae, NPF _m (t) correlates with the monthly sunspot area A _m (Sp)(t + T) with a time shift T 6 yr. The new polar faculae cycle began in the middle of 1991. Peculiarities of the first part of sunspot cycle 23 are discussed.Guest scientist with the University of Arizona and Zetetic Institute. Tucson, Arizona 85719, U.S.A.     

The structure and evolution of coronal holes

When observed at soft X-ray wavelengths coronal holes are seen as open features, devoid of X-ray emission and bounded by apparently divergent coronal loop structures. Inspection of the topology of the photospheric magnetic fields associated with these features suggests that holes are formed when the remnants of active region fields, emerging in both hemispheres over a period of several solar rotations, combine to form a large area of essentially unipolar field. Remnants of opposite polarity fields surround these features resulting in a divergent magnetic configuration at the hole boundaries. Holes are seen to form and evolve while the large scale divergent field pattern is reinforced and to close when large scale remnants occur which disrupt the general field pattern. Two types of holes are observed in the early Skylab observations. The first are elongated features which are aligned approximately north-south extending from one solar pole to a polar filament channel in the opposite hemisphere. The polar holes and somewhat lower latitude holes appear to lie in unipolar areas which are completely confined by opposite polarity fields. Studies of the rotation properties of an elongated hole, which extended from the north pole to a latitude of approximately 20° S, showed it to rotate with a synodic rate of (13.25±0.03)?(0.4±0.1 sin²φdeg day^?1. Possible explanations for the almost rigid rotational characteristics of this feature are discussed.     

EUV and radio spectrum of coronal holes

From the intensity of 19 EUV lines whose formation temperature {ovT} ranges from 3 × 10⁴ to 1.4 × 10⁶, two different models of the transition region and corona for the cell-centre and the network are derived. It is shown that both these models give radio brightness temperatures systematically higher than the observed ones. An agreement with radio data can be found only with lines formed at low temperature ({ovT} < 8.5 × 10⁵) by decreasing the coronal temperature and the emission measure. The possibility of resolving the discrepancy by using different ion abundances has been also investigated with negative results.     

Evidence linking coronal transients to the evolution of coronal holes

The positions of X-ray coronal transients outside of active regions observed during Skylab were superposed on H synoptic charts and coronal hole boundaries for seven solar rotations. We confirmed a detailed spatial association between the transients and neutral lines. We found that most of the transients were related to large-scale changes in coronal hole area and tended to occur on the borders of evolving equatorial holes.Skylab Solar Workshop Post-Doctoral Appointee, 1975–1977.