Tracing the Prevalent Small-scale Transition Region Jets Observed with IRIS to Coronal Structures

<p>The transition region, the interface between the chromosphere and corona, is dominated by network-like emission and magnetic field structures. Observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) reveal the prevalence of small-scale, jet-like features with temperatures of about 0.1 million degrees from network structures. These network jets have been suggested to be supersonic mass flows and may play an important role in transporting mass and energy to the corona and solar wind. Furthermore, EUV imaging observations reveal outward-propagating disturbances within coronal plumes originating from network regions. Previous investigations are inconclusive about the nature of these propagating disturbances. Some works suggest they are upward propagating slow magnetoacoustic waves, while others suggest they are coronal mass flows rather than waves. We present the first comparative study between coronal propagating disturbances observed in the AIA 171 Å (Fe X/Fe IX) passband and transition region network jets observed in IRIS 1330 Å (C II) slit-jaw images. By relating these two features, we seek further insight into the nature of coronal propagating disturbances and ultimately into the energy and mass transfer between the transition region, corona, and solar wind. Our preliminary study indicates that network jets and coronal propagating disturbances are spatially correlated, suggesting that coronal propagating disturbances could be either waves triggered by network jets or the coronal continuations of those mass flows outward into the solar wind. Our continuing investigation will focus on disambiguating these two scenarios by characterizing the temporal and structural relationship between these coronal propagating disturbances and associated network jets.