diff --git a/modules/util/acspo_validate.py b/modules/util/acspo_validate.py
index 81e7878d4ef8715975d6d55464b32e550c9e1e69..48bb24c5b72f0fd921f8d5436258f0c4e41d7603 100644
--- a/modules/util/acspo_validate.py
+++ b/modules/util/acspo_validate.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ def acspo_validate(oper_file, cspp_file, rel_tol=0.001, outfile_nc=None):
     start_idx_cspp, stop_idx_cspp = -1, -1
 
     for k in range(len(cntr_lat_oper)):
-        c_a = np.logical_and(np.isclose(cntr_lat_oper[k], cntr_lat_cspp, rtol=rel_tol), np.isclose(cntr_lon_oper[k], cntr_lon_cspp, rtol=rel_tol))
+        c_a = np.logical_and(np.isclose(cntr_lat_oper[k], cntr_lat_cspp), np.isclose(cntr_lon_oper[k], cntr_lon_cspp))
         if np.size(np.nonzero(c_a)[0]) == 1:
             if start_idx_oper == -1:
                 start_idx_oper = k
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ def acspo_validate(oper_file, cspp_file, rel_tol=0.001, outfile_nc=None):
     lat_oper = lat_oper[start_idx_oper:stop_idx_oper, :]
     cspp_clear = cspp_clear[start_idx_cspp:stop_idx_cspp, :]
     oper_clear = oper_clear[start_idx_oper:stop_idx_oper, :]
+    sst_cspp_2d = sst_cspp[start_idx_cspp:stop_idx_cspp, :]
+    sst_oper_2d = sst_oper[start_idx_oper:stop_idx_oper, :]
     overlap_shape = lon_cspp.shape
     print('overlap shape, size: ', overlap_shape, np.size(lon_cspp))
 
@@ -63,11 +65,8 @@ def acspo_validate(oper_file, cspp_file, rel_tol=0.001, outfile_nc=None):
     print('num of close overlap lons: ', np.sum(np.isclose(lon_cspp, lon_oper, rtol=rel_tol)))
     print('num of close overlap lats: ', np.sum(np.isclose(lat_cspp, lat_oper, rtol=rel_tol)))
 
-    sst_cspp_2d = sst_cspp[start_idx_cspp:stop_idx_cspp, :]
-    sst_oper_2d = sst_oper[start_idx_oper:stop_idx_oper, :]
-
-    sst_cspp_2d = np.where(cspp_clear, sst_cspp_2d, np.nan)
-    sst_oper_2d = np.where(oper_clear, sst_oper_2d, np.nan)
+    # sst_cspp_2d = np.where(cspp_clear, sst_cspp_2d, np.nan)
+    # sst_oper_2d = np.where(oper_clear, sst_oper_2d, np.nan)
 
     sst_cspp = sst_cspp_2d.flatten()
     sst_oper = sst_oper_2d.flatten()
@@ -78,23 +77,16 @@ def acspo_validate(oper_file, cspp_file, rel_tol=0.001, outfile_nc=None):
     lon_oper = lon_oper.flatten()
     lat_oper = lat_oper.flatten()
 
+    both_valid = np.invert(np.isnan(sst_cspp)) & np.invert(np.isnan(sst_oper))
     both_clear = oper_clear & cspp_clear
-    sst_cspp = sst_cspp[both_clear]
-    sst_oper = sst_oper[both_clear]
-    lon_cspp = lon_cspp[both_clear]
-    lat_cspp = lat_cspp[both_clear]
-    lon_oper = lon_oper[both_clear]
-    lat_oper = lat_oper[both_clear]
-    print('number of clear pixels in both: ', np.sum(both_clear))
+    keep = both_valid & both_clear
 
-    both_valid = np.invert(np.isnan(sst_cspp)) & np.invert(np.isnan(sst_oper))
-    print('number of clear pixels with valid SSTs in both: ', np.sum(both_valid))
-    valid_sst_cspp = sst_cspp[both_valid]
-    valid_sst_oper = sst_oper[both_valid]
-    valid_lon_cspp = lon_cspp[both_valid]
-    valid_lat_cspp = lat_cspp[both_valid]
-    valid_lon_oper = lon_oper[both_valid]
-    valid_lat_oper = lat_oper[both_valid]
+    valid_sst_cspp = sst_cspp[keep]
+    valid_sst_oper = sst_oper[keep]
+    valid_lon_cspp = lon_cspp[keep]
+    valid_lat_cspp = lat_cspp[keep]
+    valid_lon_oper = lon_oper[keep]
+    valid_lat_oper = lat_oper[keep]
 
     xarray_data = xr.Dataset({
         'sst_cspp': xr.DataArray(valid_sst_cspp, coords=None, dims=None, name='sst_cspp'),
@@ -108,7 +100,7 @@ def acspo_validate(oper_file, cspp_file, rel_tol=0.001, outfile_nc=None):
         xarray_data.to_netcdf(outfile_nc)
 
     print('fraction approx equal: ',
-          np.sum(np.isclose(valid_sst_cspp, valid_sst_oper, rtol=rel_tol))/np.sum(both_valid))
+          np.sum(np.isclose(valid_sst_cspp, valid_sst_oper, rtol=rel_tol))/np.sum(keep))
 
     h5f_oper.close()
     h5f_cspp.close()