diff --git a/scm/src/scm_input.F90 b/scm/src/scm_input.F90
index 4bb6b3c0..8492b340 100644
--- a/scm/src/scm_input.F90
+++ b/scm/src/scm_input.F90
@@ -1882,6 +1882,7 @@ subroutine get_case_init_DEPHY(scm_state, scm_input)
     scm_state%runtime = elapsed_sec*scm_state%runtime_mult
   end if
 
+  scm_input%input_area = input_area(active_init_time)
   scm_input%input_time = input_time
   scm_input%input_pres_surf(1) = input_pres_surf(active_init_time) !perhaps input_pres_surf should only be equal to input_force_pres_surf?
   scm_input%input_pres = input_pres(:,active_init_time)
@@ -2067,7 +2068,6 @@ subroutine get_case_init_DEPHY(scm_state, scm_input)
 
   if (trim(input_surfaceForcingLSM) == "lsm") then
     scm_input%input_ozone = input_ozone(:,active_init_time)
-    scm_input%input_area = input_area(active_init_time)
 
     scm_input%input_stddev   = input_stddev(active_init_time)
     scm_input%input_convexity= input_convexity(active_init_time)
diff --git a/scm/src/scm_setup.F90 b/scm/src/scm_setup.F90
index b3603e88..2d9f2173 100644
--- a/scm/src/scm_setup.F90
+++ b/scm/src/scm_setup.F90
@@ -43,7 +43,11 @@ subroutine set_state(scm_input, scm_reference, scm_state)
     scm_state%lat(i) = scm_input%input_lat*deg_to_rad_const
   end do
 
-
+  do i=1, scm_state%n_cols
+    if (scm_state%area(i) == 0) then
+      scm_state%area(i) = scm_input%input_area
+    end if
+  end do
 
   !> - \todo When patching in a reference sounding, need to handle the case when the reference sounding is too short; patch_in_ref
   !! checks for the case, but as of now, it just extrapolates where it needs to and returns an error code; error should be handled
@@ -160,7 +164,6 @@ subroutine set_state(scm_input, scm_reference, scm_state)
         scm_state%state_T(i,:,1) = scm_input%input_temp(:)
         scm_state%state_tracer(i,:,scm_state%water_vapor_index,1)=scm_input%input_qt
         scm_state%state_tracer(i,:,scm_state%ozone_index,1)=scm_input%input_ozone
-        scm_state%area(i) = scm_input%input_area
 
         if (scm_input%input_pres_i(1).GT. 0.0) then ! pressure are read in, overwrite values
            scm_state%pres_i(i,:)=scm_input%input_pres_i