Comparison of coronal holes observed in soft X-ray and HE I 10830 A spectroheliograms

Coronal holes observed in solar soft X-ray images obtained with rocket-borne telescopes during 1974 to 1981 are compared with holes observed on nearly simultaneous 10830 A maps. Hole boundaries are frequently poorly defined, and after 1974 the brightness contrast between the large scale structure and holes appears substantially diminished in both X-rays and 10830 A. Good agreement is found between soft X-rays and 10830 A for large area holes but poor agreement for mid and low latitude small area holes, which are generally of low contrast. These results appear inconsistent with the popular view that the quiet corona is sharply separated into open magnetic field regions consisting of coronal holes and closed field regions consisting of the large scale structure.