A Method for Estimation of the Parameters of the Primary Particle of an Extensive Air Shower by a High-Altitude Detector

A method for estimation of the parameters of the primary particle of an extensive air shower (EAS) by a high-altitude detector complex is described. This method was developed as part of the Pamir-XXI project. The results may be useful for other high-altitude projects and the EAS method in general. The specific configurations of optical detectors for Cherenkov EAS radiation and charged-particle detectors, the methods for data processing, and the attainable accuracy of reconstruction of parameters of primary particles (energy, direction, mass/type) are presented. The results primarily cover optical detectors that are suitable for studying EASs from primary nuclei in the range of energies E0 = 100 TeV–100 PeV and showers from primary γ-quanta with energies of Eγ ≥ 30 TeV. Grids of charged-particle detectors designed to determine the EAS direction and energy in the E0 = 1 PeV–1 EeV range are also considered. The obtained accuracy estimates are the upper limits of the actual experimental accuracies.