OBSERVABILITY OF CORONAL HEATING PROCESSES

The mechanisms that could possibly heat the corona are briefly reviewe d with emphasis on their observability. Observing enhanced wave flux a t footpoints of active regions would confirm wave heating. Observation of nonthermal electrons in tiny coronal events (nanoflares) would con firm dissipation of current sheets. Presence of large scale flows in c oronal arcades would underline the importance of turbulent resistivity for coronal heating. A comparison of HeI absorption in quiet and acti ve regions demonstrates the difficulty of interpreting data that conne ct chromospheric dynamics with coronal heating. Finally, the implicati ons of the search for observations of coronal heating processes are me ntioned.