Very high-resolution (0.5 arcsec) magnetograms of the quiet sun and a plage are discussed which were obtained by using a tunable birefringent filter in Fe I 6302A. A search for a turbulent bipolar field with the use of co-added and spatially filtered frames is unsuccessful. Statistical analysis sets an upper limit of 50 gauss on the rms vertical component of such a field and probably rules out the possibility of field strengths exceeding 100 gauss in the inner network field observed at Kitt Peak. The area, total flux, and energy content of the strong (kilogauss) network fields are measured and compared with the upper limits for these properties of a hypothetical widespread weak field. In the quiet photosphere, a weak background field may contain interesting amounts of flux and energy, but the strong fields are dominant at higher levels and in the plage. The total magnetic energy in the quiet photospheric is roughly equal to the kinetic energy of granular and oscillatory velocities at the same level. By flux conservation, field strengths in the transition region are greater than 25 gauss in the quiet network and 100 gauss in the plage.
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Tarbell et al. (1979) studied this question.