diff --git a/modules/util/viirs_l1b_l2.py b/modules/util/viirs_l1b_l2.py
index 1351fcdc265244913c372114c6b9c3fc8c42d31e..711a923e9a073bfd1951f2731d5818d64aaf07d5 100644
--- a/modules/util/viirs_l1b_l2.py
+++ b/modules/util/viirs_l1b_l2.py
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ def test_nlcomp(file):
     keep_2 = np.invert(np.isnan(opd))
 
     cld_dz = get_grid_values_all(h5f, 'cld_geo_thick')
-    keep_3 = np.invert(np.isnan(cld_dz))
+    keep_3 = np.logical_and(np.invert(np.isnan(cld_dz)), cld_dz > 5.0)
 
     keep = keep_0 & keep_1 & keep_2 & keep_3
     cld_phs = cld_phs[keep]