Skip to main content

MINI REVIEW article

Front. Astron. Space Sci.
Sec. Space Physics
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspas.2024.1464010

Multi-scale Processes of the Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability at Earth's Magnetopause

Provisionally accepted
Rachel C. Rice Rachel C. Rice 1,2*Kevin Blasl Kevin Blasl 3,4Katariina Nykyri Katariina Nykyri 2Shiva Kavosi Shiva Kavosi 5Kareem Sorathia Kareem Sorathia 6Yu-Lun Liou Yu-Lun Liou 7
  • 1 University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, United States
  • 2 Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, Maryland, United States
  • 3 Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Styria, Austria
  • 4 University of Graz, Graz, Styria, Austria
  • 5 Air Force Research Laboratory New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
  • 6 Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, Maryland, United States
  • 7 Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability (KHI) is a large scale convective instability which occurs anywhere the velocity shear between two fluids is large, such as Earth's magnetopause where the fast flowing magnetosheath abuts the relatively stagnant outer magnetosphere. The KHI was initially believed to contribute only to energy and momentum transfer from the solar wind to the magnetosphere, but was eventually shown to support mass transport and plasma heating. Recent advancements in in-situ observational capabilities and high scale computer modeling have once again shifted our understanding of the KHI from a large scale process, to an active environment which connects the global and kinetic scales through a variety of multi-scale processes and phenomena. In this mini-review, we provide an update on the latest findings in Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) related processes at kinetic scales and the effects of the global environment on KH development.

    Keywords: Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, plasma transport, Reconnection, Multi-scale processes, diffusive transport, Turbulence

    Received: 12 Jul 2024; Accepted: 27 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Rice, Blasl, Nykyri, Kavosi, Sorathia and Liou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Rachel C. Rice, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.