The field of solar physics and solar--terrestrial relation, now called
space weather, is evolving rapidly. As in the first edition, it is
assumed that it is inevitable for the reader to get some basic knowledge
in solar physics since the Sun is the main driver for space weather The
term space weather itself has been gaining more and more attention
during the past years as our society becomes more and more dependent on
satellites, which are vulnerable to varying conditions in space. Space
weather efforts and investigations are being made all over the world and
more and more is known about the complex relations of processes on the
Sun and the Earth and its space environment. The term space climate
nowadays includes the long-term variations caused mainly by the Sun on
the Earth and the interplanetary space. As in the first edition of the
book, this edition also covers these topics but new chapters have been
introduced, e. g., a chapter on real-time space weather forecasts and
some main space weather data sources. All the chapters have updated
information, taking into account the results of new satellite missions
and telescopes. The book also includes a great amount of new literature
(more than 340 original citations) so that the reader is able to go into
more details, if required in the respective chapters.