Topical Review

Planetary space weather: scientific aspects and future perspectives

¹ INAF-IAPS, via del Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy
² Nuclear and Particle Physics Department, Faculty of Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece
³ Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, CNRS/UGA, 38041 Grenoble, France
⁴ Laboratoire de Physique Atmosphérique et Planétaire, Institut d’Astrophysique et de Géophysique, Université de Liège, 4000 Liege, Belgium
⁵ Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 8042 Graz, Austria
⁶ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Dr, Pasadena, 91109 CA, USA
⁷ IRAP, University of Toulouse/CNRS, 31028 Toulouse, France
⁸ LESIA, Observ. Paris-Meudon, CNRS, Univ. P. et M. Curie, Univ. Paris-Diderot, 92195 Meudon, France
⁹ CISAS, University of Padova, via Venezia 15, 35131 Padova, Italy

^* Corresponding author: christina.plainaki@iaps.inaf.it

Received: 27 November 2015
Accepted: 6 June 2016

Abstract

In this paper, we review the scientific aspects of planetary space weather at different regions of our Solar System, performing a comparative planetology analysis that includes a direct reference to the circum-terrestrial case. Through an interdisciplinary analysis of existing results based both on observational data and theoretical models, we review the nature of the interactions between the environment of a Solar System body other than the Earth and the impinging plasma/radiation, and we offer some considerations related to the planning of future space observations. We highlight the importance of such comparative studies for data interpretations in the context of future space missions (e.g. ESA JUICE; ESA/JAXA BEPI COLOMBO). Moreover, we discuss how the study of planetary space weather can provide feedback for better understanding the traditional circum-terrestrial space weather. Finally, a strategy for future global investigations related to this thematic is proposed.