OVERVIEW
There is a wide range of noise sources that exist in even the most benign lab environments. There are natural sources of noise, which are native to the environment and man-made sources of noise, which are often unavoidable. Some noise sources are hard to characterize as belonging to either category.
NATURAL SOURCES
- VIBRATION: seismic movement, building sway
- ACOUSTIC: wind, ocean waves
- EMI: solar events, Earth’s magnetic field
- THERMAL: daily variation
MAN-MADE SOURCES
- VIBRATION: pumps and other machinery, foot traffic, vehicle traffic, moving parts within instrument, construction, mining operations
- ACOUSTIC: human voices, pumps and other machinery, wind
- EMI: traffic, elevators, MRI machines, HVAC equipment, radio communication
- Electrical noise can also cause EMI signatures to negatively effect instruments in a lab. These sources include: insufficient grounding, line noise, and noise floor constraints.
- THERMAL: daily variation, man-made heat sources, body heat
OTHER SOURCES OF NOISE
- Air currents, dust and particulate, sample contamination, gas/atmospheric variation, and more!
The categories below go into more detail of the primary noise sources most commonly found in a lab environment.