1. n. [Geophysics]

Anything other than desired signal. Noise includes disturbances in seismic data caused by any unwanted seismic energy, such as shot generation ground roll, surface waves, multiples, effects of weather and human activity, or random occurrences in the Earth. Noise can be minimized by using source and receiver arrays, generating minimal noise during acquisition and by filtering and stacking data during processing.

See related terms: aliasing,  bubble effect,  coherence filtering,  coherent noise,  common midpoint method,  cultural noise,  deep tow,  embedded wavelet,  filter,  filter,  ground roll,  inversion,  long-path multiple,  multiple reflection,  mute,  peg-leg multiple,  random noise,  record,  seismic-while-drilling vertical seismic profile,  short-path multiple,  signal-to-noise ratio,  smile,  stack,  suppression,  surface wave,  tail mute