CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 UnportedMüller-Petke, Mike2021-11-152021-11-152020https://oa.tib.eu/renate/handle/123456789/7292https://doi.org/10.34657/6339Surface-NMR measurements commonly suffer from low signal-to-noise ratios. In recent years, with the introduction of multi-channel surface-NMR instruments, the technique of remote-reference noise cancellation (RNC) was developed and significantly improved the applicability of surface-NMR. The current formulation of RNC requires a reference loop to be placed a remote distance from the transmitter loop such that no NMR signal is recorded. Reference loops placed at non-remote distances have been envisaged to provide both improved noise cancellation performance and field efficiency; however, the concept has not been previously applied because the theoretical framework was missing. In this paper, the theoretical framework is presented. It is demonstrated that reference loops placed at non-remote distances provide superior noise cancellation performance. Considerations for placing the reference loop relative to the transmitter loop are provided, and the theoretical framework is evaluated based on a semi-synthetic example using real field noise and synthetic surface-NMR data. © 2020enghttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/620660550Surface-NMR measurementremote-reference noise cancellation (RNC)reference loopArticle