The fractal nature of the polar plumes
Abstract
Polar plumes are often perceived as isolated structures, possibly tube-like, in super-radial expansion. As a consequence, coronal holes are considered composed of plumes and dominating inter-plume regions from which the fast solar wind originates. In order to test the validity of this concept, we pursued the analysis of a sequence of high cadence continuous observations obtained with the SOHO/LASCO-C2 coronagraph in March 1997. The spectral analysis of the plume pattern show that their spatial distribution is of fractal type. This implies that their distribution in a surface section of the coronal hole is self-affine and that coronal holes have a fibrous structure, at least at the spatial scales of the visible observations.
- Publication:
-
From Solar Min to Max: Half a Solar Cycle with SOHO
- Pub Date:
- June 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002ESASP.508..391L
- Keywords:
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- Polar Plumes;
- Coronal Holes;
- Fractal