  Observations with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) have
revealed numerous sub-arcsecond bright dots in the transition region above
sunspots. These bright dots are seen in the 1400\AA{} and 1330\AA{} slit-jaw
images. They are clearly present in all sunspots we investigated, mostly in the
penumbrae, but also occasionally in some umbrae and light bridges. The bright
dots in the penumbrae typically appear slightly elongated, with the two
dimensions being 300--600 km and 250--450 km, respectively. The long sides of
these dots are often nearly parallel to the bright filamentary structures in
the penumbrae but sometimes clearly deviate from the radial direction. Their
lifetimes are mostly less than one minute, although some dots last for a few
minutes or even longer. Their intensities are often a few times stronger than
the intensities of the surrounding environment in the slit-jaw images. About
half of the bright dots show apparent movement with speeds of
$\sim$10--40~km~s$^{-1}$ in the radial direction. Spectra of a few bright dots
were obtained and the Si~{\sc{iv}}~1402.77\AA{} line profiles in these dots are
significantly broadened. The line intensity can be enhanced by one to two
orders of magnitude. Some relatively bright and long-lasting dots are also
observed in several passbands of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly onboard the
Solar Dynamics Observatory, and they appear to be located at the bases of
loop-like structures. Many of these bright dots are likely associated with
small-scale energy release events at the transition region footpoints of
magnetic loops.
