Modeling Multiscale Dynamics by Statistical Mechanics in Heliophysics and Geophysics

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, the Sun–Earth system has been the subject of both fundamental and applied research, with a variety of interdisciplinary approaches. In all those systems that are spanning the entire heliosphere, Sun and Earth included, the fundamental mechanism of energy transport, redistribution, and conversion almost always occurs in a multiscale manner. Due to the multiscale aspect of the aforementioned processes, scaling laws emerge in the statistics of the observable quantities detected in the solar atmosphere, the solar wind, the Earth’s magnetosphere, and the geophysical systems. The existence of these scaling laws has led to a widespread interest in these systems and the application of methods developed in the field of complex and nonlinear dynamics to their study. In fact, the quantification of nonlinear behavior, the evaluation of how the latter depends on the different conditions of the system, and the assessment of how the physical processes scale and evolve in time and space provide fundamental information for our understanding of these systems and their basic mechanisms. Therefore, the methods introduced in the field of instabilities, turbulence, chaos, and statistical mechanics have been applied not only to nonlinear data analysis but also to models and forecasting within the Sun–Earth system, being the subject of an ever-increasing field of research such as space weather, space climate, and nonlinear geophysics.

Shedding light on the processes occurring in natural systems over different time scales has relevant implications for hazards and modern monitoring. Fundamental contributions come from the use of combined multiparametric datasets, the adoption of innovative techniques, and multidisciplinary experimental approaches.

With this Special Issue, we propose to put forth the state-of-the-art of the models and the analysis dealing with multiscale processes developed for heliophysical and geophysical systems mainly focused on:

Solar magnetic field, dynamo and solar cycle;
Solar impulsive events: flares, coronal mass ejections;
Turbulence and nonlinear processes in space;
Sun–Earth processes, space weather, and space climate ;
Dynamo and earth magnetic field;
Nonlinear dynamics in geophysical systems;
Earth’s climate and atmosphere;
Hydrodynamical systems;
Statistical methods in geophysical context.

Dr. Giuseppina Nigro
Prof. Mariarosaria Falanga
Guest Editors

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