UNSOLVED PROBLEMS OF SOLAR-WIND EXPANSION - CAN WE LEARN ANYTHING FROM SOHO

Some of the main problems of solar wind expansion are addressed. Emphasis is placed on solar wind acceleration and the mass flux problem. It is demonstrated how these two properties of the flow depend on other plasma parameters such as temperature, density and helium abundance. The importance of placing constraints on a given solar wind flow in the inner corona and at larger distances from the sun simultaneously, is also shown. Whether and how these constraints can be derived from observations carried out by SOHO instruments is then discussed.