Wheel/rail noise generation due to nonlinear effects and parametric excitationNonlinear effects on the propagation of elastic waves in hysteretic media are of great importance, with applications in imaging and monitoring evolution of damage/phase transitions/biological features. However, excitation amplitudes are an issue in order to improve performances of the techniques. Noise effects in the signals can be stronger than the generated nonlinear effects, thus rendering difficult the nonlinear analysis. Here, we analyze the link between the amplitude threshold for detection of nonlinear effects and different kinds of noises, which might be present in experiments. We also discuss the implications in the intrpretation of experiments. V C 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.