VISIONS-2 observations of ion heating and energization near the exobase, and the role of wave-particle interactions

The VISIONS-2 sounding rocket mission, launched Dec 7, 2019 into the cusp, was predominantly designed to study ion outflow acceleration mechanisms. It carried a variety of in situ particles and fields sensors to diagnose ion energization and heating mechanisms, as well as remote sensing instrumentation to image the energy inputs (rocket-borne visible wavelength multispectral auroral imager) and ion outflow (energetic neutral atom imager). The Kjell Henriksen Observatory (KHO) optical instruments and the EISCAT radar were used to measure the conditions before, during, and after the VISIONS-2 launch. VISIONS-2 observed strong cusp outflow of