Detecting Forbush Decreases with Geiger Counters

Strong aperiodic variations (Forbush decreases) of the cosmic ray flux are due to catastrophic events in the Sun, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Although such variations are better observed in the neutron component of the secondary cosmic rays, also the muon component is affected by such events, so that even Geiger counters could be able in principle to observe this effect. Such a possibility is here discussed, with considerations concerning the requirements when using small detectors.