The chromosphere and flare energy

In this paper I discuss the role of the chromosphere in flare energetics. The chromosphere may play a role in the dynamics, because the magnetic support of its mass in non-vertical fields may help to drive coronal current systems. This source of stress seems unlikely to play a major role in flare energetics, however. Nevertheless the formation of the visible/UV continuum in a flare, which certainly takes place in the chromosphereor below, dominates flare energy.