Coronal winds are stellar winds driven by gas pressure due to a high temperature of the gas. In the case of the sun a coronal temperature of about 2 × 106 K is reached in the outer layers of the solar atmosphere. The solar photosphere, where the visual radiation from the sun is emitted, has a temperature of about 6000 K. Above the photosphere the temperature rises with height to a few times 106 K. The temperature rise beyond the photosphere is due to the dissipation of mechanical energy or the reconnection of magnetic fields that originate in the convection zone below the photosphere. Other forces, such as those produced by Alfvén waves, may play a role in the coronal holes which are regions of lower temperatures and higher mass flux. However in this chapter on coronal winds, we will only consider the effects of gas pressure and heat conduction in the production of a stellar wind.

All non-degenerate stars with effective temperatures less than about 6500 K are expected to have a convection zone below their surface, so in principle chromospheres and coronae could exist around all cool stars. However, very luminous cool stars can also have winds driven by other mechanisms such as wave pressure or radiation pressure on dust grains. If these stars have a high mass loss rate, then the heating cannot compete with the cooling of the outflowing gas.