THE EFFECT OF NONEQUILIBRIUM IONIZATION ON THE OVI RESONANCE DOUBLET LINES ORIGINATING IN THE SOLAR-WIND SOURCE REGIONS

We investigated the effects of the deviations from ionization equilibr ium occurring in the plasma out-flowing from the solar wind source reg ions on the intensity and profile of the O VI resonance doublet lines. In particular, we computed the densities of the ions of oxygen along the coronal hole models considered by Spadaro & Ventura (1993, hereaft er Paper I), dropping the assumption of ionization equilibrium. These density values were used to calculate the intensity and profile of the O VI lines expected from the coronal structures considered, adopting the same procedure described in Paper I. The results have been compare d to those obtained assuming ionization equilibrium. The comparison sh ows differences which become significant at heliocentric distances lar ger than 3-4R.. The importance of these results for the analysis of th e O VI emission from the solar wind source regions has been discussed.