On the Topology of Global Coronal Magnetic

This thesis considers the magnetic topology of the global solar corona. To understand the magnetic topology we use the magnetic skeleton which provides us with a robust description of the magnetic field. To do this we use a Potential Field model extrap-olated from observations of the photospheric magnetic field. Various measurements of the photospheric magnetic field are used from both ground-based observatories (Kitt-Peak and SOLIS) and space-based observatories (MDI and HMI). Using the magnetic skeleton we characterise particular topological structures and discuss their variations throughout the solar cycle. We find that, from the topology, there are two types of solar minimum magnetic field and one type of solar maximum. The global structure of the coronal magnetic field depends on the relative strengths of the polar fields and the low-latitude fields. During a strong solar dipole minimum the heliospheric current sheet sits near the equator and the heliospheric current sheet curtains enclose a large amount of mixed polarity field which is associated with many low-altitude null points. In a weak solar dipole minimum the heliospheric curren