Coronal
magnetic fields: intrinsically 3D
Everyone wants to measure coronal
magnetic fields: flares, coronal heating, CMEs,
.
Most of us come from Flatland: we are
accustomed to 2D photospheric field
measurements.
The corona is different: intrinsically 3D. Have to think
differently. Cant measure 3D fields with an optically thin diagnostic;
here radio has an advantage because it is
optically thick: get different layers of the corona at different frequencies.
Extrapolations of surface fields will be
just as crucial because we dont measure the
height of the gyroresonance layers.
But extrapolations need radio measurements
of coronal field strengths because the
photospheric and chromospheric measurements are incomplete.