The energy release process in solar flares; constraints from TRACE observations

The Transition Region And Coronal Explorer Satellite, TRACE, launched in 1998, has proved a valuable tool in the study of solar flares. UV and EUV observations of the impulsive and gradual phases of many tens of flares have been made. TRACE's excellent spatial resolution and image cadence on the order of one second allow the rearrangement of the magnetic field to be tracked in some detail. The combination of these observations with data from other instruments, and with magnetic field reconstructions, have provided strong evidence for (a) UV emission as a beam proxy in the impulsive phase (b) long duration coronal heating in the gradual phase (c) very complex and varied magnetic geometries. We review the observational evidence for the above, discussing implications for energy release