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T.G. Forbes (Univ. of New Hampshire)
By measuring the rate at which the magnetic flux opened by a coronal mass ejection, or an eruptive flare, disappears, one can determine the global rate of reconnection in Webers per second (or Maxwells per second in CGS units) as a function of time. No specific model of the coronal magnetic field is needed using this approach. All that is required is the line-of-sight component of the field as obtained from a standard magnetogram and measurements of the surface area on the Sun corresponding to newly closed field lines. The latter can be determined by observing the motion of the chromospheric ribbons which lie at the feet of the X-ray loops formed in the aftermath of an eruptive event.