Kelvin Helmholtz Instability in Planetary Magnetospheres

Kelvin-Helmholtz instability plays a particularly important role in plasma transport at magnetospheric boundaries because it can control the development of a turbulent boundary layer, which governs the transport of mass, momentum, and energy across the boundary. Waves generated at the interface can also couple into body modes in the plasma sheet and inner magnetosphere where they can play an important role in plasma sheet transport and particle energization in the inner magnetosphere. Kinetic and electron-scale effects are important for the development of K-H instability, leading to secondary instabilities and plasma mixing. The development of vortices that entwine magnetosheath field lines with magnetospheric field lines also allows reconnection and the interchange of plasma blobs from open to closed field lines. Dawn-dusk asymmetries in Kelvin-Helmholtz development at planetary boundary layers may result from several effects including plasma corotation, kinetic effects, magnetic geometry, or asymmetric distribution of plasma. Examples are provided throughout the solar system illustrating the pervasive effects of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability on plasma transport.