diff --git a/modules/util/util.py b/modules/util/util.py
index b64ca2f26cb929333bc241b2d75741bb76f60916..f7abf1e35ecbf0dee5b178be833f151135ed723a 100644
--- a/modules/util/util.py
+++ b/modules/util/util.py
@@ -647,6 +647,10 @@ def add_noise(data, noise_scale=0.01, seed=None, copy=True):
     return data
 
 
+geos_goes16_fd = None
+geos_goes16_conus = None
+geos_h08_fd = None
+
 f = open(ancillary_path+'geos_crs_goes16_FD.pkl', 'rb')
 geos_goes16_fd = pickle.load(f)
 f.close()