Hourly variances of fluctuations in the hcliosphcric magnetic field out of the ecliptic plane

Magnetic field fluctuations at high heliographic latitudes are discussed in terms of the latitude and radial dependence of their variances, as observed by the Ulysses spacecraft. The increased level of transverse fluctuations in fast solar wind flows from the polar coronal holes is similar to that found in high spce.d streams near the ecliptic. However, continuous observations in the fast solar wind both southward and northward of the solar equatorial plane. has allowed the determination of the radial de.pcndcnce of fluctuations on hourly and shorter timescales, free from additional energy input from stream-stream interactions or from coronal mass ejections and in the presence of a slowly evolving, low frequency Alfv6nic population. The conclusion is that fluctuations in the inert i al range in the homogeneous polar coronal flows decay faster than predicted by the WKB approximation. However, even minor compression effects can increase the energy in these fluctuations.