This textbook collects and expands lecture notes from the two - semester course which the authors gave regularly at the University of Munich since 1988 for undergraduate and graduate students of geophysics, who had an average knowledge of fluid dynamics and electromagnetism. The book is written in a self - contained way and most of the material is presented including the basic steps of derivation so that the reader can follow without need to consult original sources.
The first five chapters provide an introduction into space physics, based on a mixture of simple theory and a description of the wealth of space plasma phenomena. A concise description of the Earth's plasma environment is followed by a derivation of single particle motion in electromagnetic fields, adiabatic invariants, and applications to the Earth's magnetosphere and ring current. Then the origin and effects of collisions and conductivities and the formation of the ionosphere are discussed. Ohm's law and the frozen - in concept are introduced on a somewhat heuristic basis. The first part ends with an introduction into magnetospheric dynamics, including convection electric fields, current systems, substorms, and other macroscopic aspects of solar wind - magnetosphere and magnetosphere - ionosphere coupling.
The second part of the book presents a more rigorous theoretical foundation of space plasma physics, yet still contains many applications to space physics. It starts from kinetic theory, which is built on the Klimontovich approach. Introducing moments of the distribution function allows the derivation of the single and multi - fluid equations, followed by a discussion of fluid boundaries and shocks, with the Earth's magnetopause and bow shock as examples. Both, fluid and kinetic theory are then applied to derive the relevant wave modes in a plasma, again with applications from space physics.