DIAGNOSTICS WITH THE HANLE EFFECT

The Hanle effect has been extensively used for the determination of th e magnetic field strength and direction in solar prominences. Here we address the problem of the diagnostics of weak magnetic fields in the solar photosphere and chromosphere by means of their Hanle effect in s ome selected absorption lines. As this is a relatively new area we wil l focus on the diagnostic methods and summarize some results that rela te to the presence of a weak, turbulent magnetic field in the photosph ere and to the chromospheric magnetic canopy. Finally we will outline some directions for future work.