Noise charateristics in sensors

[likephysics]

Is noise in sensors always gaussian?
I was playing with acceleromter data in matlab. I decomposed the data into high frequency and low frequency. The high frequency noise distribution looks like a gaussian.
Is this common to sensors?

 

[Topher925]

Is this common to sensors?

Its common in most electronic devices, actually. Transducers, ADC's, Op-amps, etc.

 

[Bob S]

Here is a comprehensive summary of electronic noise:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_1/f_noise
If your noise power is significantly above kTB (Boltzmann's constant, temperature kelvin, bandwidth), look for other sources that may be instrumental, and may not be Gaussian. Resistors are inherently noisy (Nyquist noise).