SLOW SOLAR WIND FROM OPEN REGIONS WITH STRONG LOW-CORONAL HEATING

By comparing solar wind data taken by the Advanced Composition Explorer during 1998-2007 with extrapolations of the observed photospheric magnetic field, we verify that high O7+/O6+ and Fe/O ratios are associated with low wind speeds, large expansion factors, strong footpoint fields, and high mass and energy flux densities at the coronal base. As demonstrated by model calculations, these correlations are consistent with the idea that the bulk of the slow wind originates from regions of rapidly diverging open flux, where the coronal heating is concentrated at low heights. We identify two main components of the slow wind, one emanating from small coronal holes near active regions and characterized by particularly strong low-coronal heating, the other coming from just inside the polar-hole boundaries and characterized by weaker low-coronal heating and intermediate O7+/O6+ and Fe/O ratios.