A study of high-energy cosmic-ray interactions at sea level

The expected cosmic-ray burst spectrum (approximately 1 TeV) in a land target at sea level has been determined using the published hadronic and muonic spectra. The response of the recording scintillator is carefully assessed. The muon burst size spectrum is straightforwardly calculated. The different approaches are used to determine the expected hadronic burst spectrum; one an analytical technique and the other a Monte-Carlo method. Good agreement between the two techniques is found. The Monte-Carlo method has the advantage of taking into account multiple hadron interactions. The results are compared with experimental data derived from the scintillator detector. The muon-initiated burst spectrum shows close agreement, but a discrepancy of at least three appears between calculated and measured intensities of hadron-induced bursts by a factor. (author)