The various processes that connect the physics of the Sun with that of the Earth's environment has become known as "Space Weather" during recent years, a slogan that has emerged in connection with many other expressions adapted from meteorology, such as solar wind, magnetic clouds or polar rain. This volume is intended as a first graduate-level textbook-style account on the physics of these solar-terrestrial relations and their impact on our natural and technological environment.

This book presents recent results on the modelling of space plasmas with Kappa distributions and their interpretation. Hot and dilute space plasmas most often do not reach thermal equilibrium, their dynamics being essentially conditioned by the kinetic effects of plasma particles, i.e., electrons, protons, and heavier ions. Deviations from thermal equilibrium shown by these plasma particles are often described by Kappa distributions. Although well-known, these distributions are still controversial in achieving a statistical characterization and a physical interpretation of non-equilibrium...