Production of W and Z bosons in ATLAS

The W and Z bosons are abundantly produced at the LHC and are therefore benchmarks for exploring the known Standard Model physics in the new experimental condition. The studies of the final states with leptons are important for understanding the performance of the ATLAS detector as well as for measuring the background contributions to beyond the Standard Model searches. This talk will summarise measurements of several characteristics of the W and Z bosons using first ATLAS data. Amongst them: cross section of W and Z bosons, W charge asymmetry and the first observation of tau leptons. Prospects for the measurements using the full 2010 ATLAS data will be discussed at the end of the talk.