Energy Input Flux in the Global Quiet-Sun Corona

Abstract

We present first results of a novel technique that provides, for the first time, constraints on the energy input flux at the coronal base ($r\sim 1.025{\mathrm{R}}_{\odot }$) of the quiet-Sun at a global scale. By combining differential emission measure tomography (DEMT) of EUV images, with global models of the coronal magnetic field, we estimate the energy input flux at the coronal base that is required to maintain thermodynamically stable structures. The technique is described in detail and first applied to data provided by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI) instrument, on board the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) mission, and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument, on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) mission, for two solar rotations with different levels of activity. Our analysis indicates that the typical energy input flux at the coronal base of magnetic loops in the quiet-Sun is in the range $\sim 0.5-2.0\times 10^5(\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{se}{\mathrm{c}}^{-1}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2})$, depending on the structure size and level of activity. A large fraction of this energy input, or even its totality, could be accounted for by Alfvén waves, as shown by recent independent observational estimates derived from determinations of the non-thermal broadening of spectral lines in the coronal base of quiet-Sun regions. This new tomography product will be useful for validation of coronal heating models in magnetohydrodinamic simulations of the global corona.

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• Assessing the capability of a model-based stellar XUV estimation
• Enthalpy-based modeling of tomographically reconstructed quiet-Sun coronal loops