  The Experimental complex NEVOD includes several different setups for studying
various components of extensive air showers (EAS) in the energy range from
10^10 to 10^18 eV. The NEVOD-EAS array for detection of the EAS electron-photon
component began its data taking in 2018. It is a distributed system of
scintillation detectors installed over an area of about 10^4 m^2. A distinctive
feature of this array is its cluster organization with different-altitude
layout of the detecting elements. The main goal of the NEVOD-EAS array is to
obtain an estimation of the primary particle energy for events measured by
various detectors of the Experimental complex NEVOD. This paper describes the
design, operation principles and data processing of the NEVOD-EAS array. The
criteria for the event selection and the accuracy of the EAS parameters
reconstruction obtained on the simulated events are discussed. The results of
the preliminary analysis of experimental data obtained during a half-year
operation are presented.
