diff --git a/pyaerocom/aeroval/modelmaps_engine.py b/pyaerocom/aeroval/modelmaps_engine.py
index 7d04722e3..3cfda0e9a 100644
--- a/pyaerocom/aeroval/modelmaps_engine.py
+++ b/pyaerocom/aeroval/modelmaps_engine.py
@@ -161,8 +161,12 @@ def _process_map_var(self, model_name, var, reanalyse_existing):
                 logger.info(f"Skipping processing of {outname}: data already exists.")
                 return []
 
-        freq = min(TsType(fq) for fq in self.cfg.time_cfg.freqs)
-        freq = min(freq, self.cfg.time_cfg.main_freq)
+        maps_freq = TsType(self.cfg.modelmaps_opts.maps_freq)
+        if maps_freq == "coarsest":  # TODO: Implement this in terms of a TsType object. #1267
+            freq = min(TsType(fq) for fq in self.cfg.time_cfg.freqs)
+            freq = min(freq, self.cfg.time_cfg.main_freq)
+        else:
+            freq = maps_freq
         tst = TsType(data.ts_type)
 
         if tst < freq:
diff --git a/pyaerocom/aeroval/setupclasses.py b/pyaerocom/aeroval/setupclasses.py
index 97ce41383..7e54c3f02 100644
--- a/pyaerocom/aeroval/setupclasses.py
+++ b/pyaerocom/aeroval/setupclasses.py
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ def get_json_output_dirs(self, assert_exists=True):
 
 
 class ModelMapsSetup(BaseModel):
-    maps_freq: Literal["monthly", "yearly"] = "monthly"
+    maps_freq: Literal["hourly", "daily", "monthly", "yearly", "coarsest"] = "coarsest"
     maps_res_deg: PositiveInt = 5
 
 
diff --git a/pyaerocom/time_config.py b/pyaerocom/time_config.py
index 00e8c689b..00a110786 100644
--- a/pyaerocom/time_config.py
+++ b/pyaerocom/time_config.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 from iris import coord_categorisation
 
-TS_TYPES = ["minutely", "hourly", "daily", "weekly", "monthly", "yearly", "native"]
+TS_TYPES = ["minutely", "hourly", "daily", "weekly", "monthly", "yearly", "native", "coarsest"]
 
 # The following import was removed and the information about available unit
 # strings was copied from the netCDF4 module directly here
diff --git a/pyaerocom/tstype.py b/pyaerocom/tstype.py
index 052d6feb8..ee77aa3a5 100644
--- a/pyaerocom/tstype.py
+++ b/pyaerocom/tstype.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 
 class TsType:
     VALID = TS_TYPES
-    VALID_ITER = VALID[:-1]
+    VALID_ITER = VALID[:-2]
     FROM_PANDAS = PANDAS_FREQ_TO_TS_TYPE
     TO_PANDAS = TS_TYPE_TO_PANDAS_FREQ
     TO_NUMPY = TS_TYPE_TO_NUMPY_FREQ
diff --git a/tests/aeroval/test_setupclasses.py b/tests/aeroval/test_setupclasses.py
index e3a6451fb..447bd214c 100644
--- a/tests/aeroval/test_setupclasses.py
+++ b/tests/aeroval/test_setupclasses.py
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ def test_EvalSetup_ModelMapsSetup(eval_setup: EvalSetup, cfg_exp1: dict, update:
         assert modelmaps_opts.maps_res_deg == cfg_exp1["maps_res_deg"] == update["maps_res_deg"]
     else:  # defaults
         assert "maps_freq" not in cfg_exp1
-        assert modelmaps_opts.maps_freq == "monthly"
+        assert modelmaps_opts.maps_freq == "coarsest"
         assert "maps_res_deg" not in cfg_exp1
         assert modelmaps_opts.maps_res_deg == 5
 
diff --git a/tests/io/test_iris_io.py b/tests/io/test_iris_io.py
index 3c7a6bbb4..0b1725ddc 100644
--- a/tests/io/test_iris_io.py
+++ b/tests/io/test_iris_io.py
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ def test_check_time_coord(cube: Cube):
             "blaa",
             2010,
             TemporalResolutionError,
-            "Invalid input for ts_type blaa. Choose from ['minutely', 'hourly', 'daily', 'weekly', 'monthly', 'yearly', 'native']",
+            "Invalid input for ts_type blaa. Choose from ['minutely', 'hourly', 'daily', 'weekly', 'monthly', 'yearly', 'native', 'coarsest']",
             id="wrong ts_type",
         ),
         pytest.param(
diff --git a/tests/test_tstype.py b/tests/test_tstype.py
index b459b60f5..3d36f9453 100644
--- a/tests/test_tstype.py
+++ b/tests/test_tstype.py
@@ -6,7 +6,16 @@
 
 
 def test_TsType_VALID():
-    assert TsType.VALID == ["minutely", "hourly", "daily", "weekly", "monthly", "yearly", "native"]
+    assert TsType.VALID == [
+        "minutely",
+        "hourly",
+        "daily",
+        "weekly",
+        "monthly",
+        "yearly",
+        "native",
+        "coarsest",
+    ]
 
 
 def test_TsType_VALID_ITER():
@@ -75,7 +84,7 @@ def test_TsType_val():
         (
             "blaa",
             "Invalid input for ts_type blaa. "
-            "Choose from ['minutely', 'hourly', 'daily', 'weekly', 'monthly', 'yearly', 'native']",
+            "Choose from ['minutely', 'hourly', 'daily', 'weekly', 'monthly', 'yearly', 'native', 'coarsest']",
         ),
         (
             "5000daily",