An analysis of recent extensive air shower data from the Durham array

Abstract

A small sea level air shower array, consisting of 14 plastic scintillators providing both density and directional information, is described. The data collection electronics are described, and any recent improvements implemented during the period 1975 - 1977 are outlined. The offline treatment of the data, from initial data checking to final analysis is described, and a quantitative assessment of the performance of the analysis programmes using simulated data, is presented. The differential shower size spectrum slope, based on a sample of 650 events has been calculated as Y = 2.95 ± 0,2 for 6.3 x 10(^5) < N < 2 x 10(^6) Finally, some discrepancies between the analysis of real and simulated data are presented, and some possible causes discussed.