Noise floor

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This article is about physics term. For the Bright Eyes album, see Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005).

In signal theory, the noise floor is the measure of the signal created from the sum of all the noise sources and unwanted signals within a measurement system.

In radio communication and electronics, this may include thermal noise, blackbody, and any other interfering signals. In a measurement system such as a seismograph, it may include nearby foot traffic or a nearby road. The noise floor limits the smallest measurement that can be taken since any measured amplitude can be no less than the noise floor. A common way to lower the noise floor in electronics systems is to cool the system to reduce thermal noise, which is usually the major noise source.