The MiniBooNE detector at Fermilab is designed to search for \nu _ { \mu } \rightarrow \nu _ { e } oscillation appearance at E _ { \nu } \sim 1 { GeV } and to make a decisive test of the LSND signal .
The main detector ( inside a veto shield ) is a spherical volume containing 0.680 ktons of mineral oil .
This inner volume , viewed by 1280 phototubes , is primarily a Čerenkov medium , as the scintillation yield is low .
The entire detector is under a 3 m earth overburden .
Though the detector is not optimized for low-energy ( tens of MeV ) events , and the cosmic-ray muon rate is high ( 10 kHz ) , we show that MiniBooNE can function as a useful supernova neutrino detector .
Simple trigger-level cuts can greatly reduce the backgrounds due to cosmic-ray muons .
For a canonical Galactic supernova at 10 kpc , about 190 supernova \bar { \nu } _ { e } + p \rightarrow e ^ { + } + n events would be detected .
By adding MiniBooNE to the international network of supernova detectors , the possibility of a supernova being missed would be reduced .
Additionally , the paths of the supernova neutrinos through Earth will be different for MiniBooNE and other detectors , thus allowing tests of matter-affected mixing effects on the neutrino signal .