At Venus, Pioneer Venus Orbiter observed wave-like structures at the ionopause and detached plasma clouds in the magnetosheath. It is thought that these processes occur due to the interaction between the solar wind and the ionospheric plasma, leading to the development of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability.

Mars Global Surveyor data indicate that the same processes may act at the Martian ionopause. Therefore, the stability of the Martian ionopause is analyzed with respect to the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. It was found that the region of the whole terminator plane is unstable, and the highest growth rates were found at the equatorial flanks. Loss rates of more than 10²⁴ O⁺ ions were found, showing that detached plasma clouds are an important atmospheric loss process on Mars.

In a recent study, the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in the frame of Hall-MHD is considered, showing that the inclusion of Hall effects can lead to an unstable ionopause even near the subsolar point. Additionally, the influence of localized crustal magnetism on the occurrence of the interchange instability is discussed. The crustal magnetism leads to a strong local curvature of the ionopause, which favours the occurrence of the interchange instability. A comparison of the instability growth rates with the characteristic time scales shows that both instabilities occur at the Martian ionopause.