Sizes of transition-region structures in coronal holes and in the quiet Sun

¹ Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany e-mail: tianhui924@163.com; marsch@mps.mpg.de
² Department of Geophysics, Peking University, Beijing, PR China e-mail: chuanyitu@pku.edu.cn
³ Department of Space Science and Applied Physics, Shandong Univ. at Weihai, Weihai, Shandong, PR China e-mail: xld@ustc.edu.cn

Received: 11 December 2007
Accepted: 14 February 2008

Abstract

Aims. We study the height variations of the sizes of chromospheric and transition-region features in a small coronal hole and the adjacent quiet Sun, considering images of the intensity, Doppler shift, and non-thermal motion of ultraviolet emission lines as measured by SUMER (Solar Ultraviolet Measurements by Emitted Radiation), together with the magnetic field as obtained by extrapolation from photospheric magnetograms.

Methods. In order to estimate the characteristic sizes of the different features present in the chromosphere and transition region, we have calculated the autocorrelation function for the images as well as the corresponding extrapolated magnetic field at different heights. The Half Width at Half Maximum (HWHM) of the autocorrelation function is considered to be the characteristic size of the feature shown in the corresponding image.

Results. Our results indicate that, in both the coronal hole and quiet Sun, the HWHM of the intensity image is larger than that of the images of Doppler-shift and non-thermal width at any given altitude. The HWHM of the intensity image is smaller in the chromosphere than in the transition region, where the sizes of intensity features of lines at different temperatures are almost the same. But in the upper part of the transition region, the intensity size increases more strongly with temperature in the coronal hole than in the quiet Sun. We also studied the height variations of the HWHM of the magnetic field magnitude B and its component , and found they are equal to each other at a certain height below 40 Mm in the coronal hole. The height variations of the HWHM of seem to be consistent with the temperature variations of the intensity size.

Conclusions. Our results suggest that coronal loops are much lower, and magnetic structures expand through the upper transition region and lower corona much more strongly with height in the coronal hole than in the quiet Sun.