diff --git a/modules/util/viirs_surfrad.py b/modules/util/viirs_surfrad.py
index 4d133be28237de719e45bad73b07b3ee5afe21da..e3120612b311a234019453f8341c588a27557ac0 100644
--- a/modules/util/viirs_surfrad.py
+++ b/modules/util/viirs_surfrad.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ def run_all(directory, out_directory, day_night='ANY', pattern='clavrx_*.nc', st
     cnt = start
     total_num_train_samples = 0
     total_num_valid_samples = 0
-    num_keep_x_tiles = 8
+    num_keep_x_tiles = 12
 
     path = directory + '**' + '/' + pattern