The AIA Instrument System

The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) provides nearly simultaneous images in eight wavelengths every ten seconds.  Every 10 second cycle images will be obtained in He 304 Å and a set of Iron lines - Fe IX, XII, XI, XVI, XVII, and a band containing XX, XXIV, and XXIII, one UV band.  The center wavelengths in the UV bands are 1600 Å,  1700 Å, and 4500 Å.  The UV wavelengths with change alternately.  All images are identical and cover 1.3 solar radii with 0.6 arcsecond pixel resolution.  The detectors are  4096 x 4096 pixel thinned back illuminated CCD’s.  Because AIA flies in a geo-stationary orbit 24/7 coverage with a data rate of 67 Megabits/second is possible for all but two month long periods a year. The maximum occultations during these periods are on the order of an hour.   AIA’s combination of spatial, spectral, and temporal coverage will allow significant advances on our understanding of the physics of the Transition Region and Corona.  This talk will give an overview of the AIA instrument capabilities and or current plans for data access and distribution.