diff --git a/catalogbuilder/intakebuilder/getinfo.py b/catalogbuilder/intakebuilder/getinfo.py
index a09f8e5..6f85b03 100644
--- a/catalogbuilder/intakebuilder/getinfo.py
+++ b/catalogbuilder/intakebuilder/getinfo.py
@@ -234,6 +234,11 @@ def getInfoFromVarAtts(fname,variable_id,dictInfo,att="standard_name",filexra=No
           cfname = filexr[variable_id].attrs["standard_name"]
       except KeyError:
           cfname = "NA"
+          try:
+              long_name = filexr[variable_id].attrs["long_name"]
+          except KeyError:
+              long_name = "NA"
+          cfname = long_name.replace(" ", "_")
       dictInfo["standard_name"] = cfname 
       print("standard_name found",dictInfo["standard_name"])
     return dictInfo
diff --git a/catalogbuilder/intakebuilder/gfdlcrawler.py b/catalogbuilder/intakebuilder/gfdlcrawler.py
index d5e0816..a02920b 100644
--- a/catalogbuilder/intakebuilder/gfdlcrawler.py
+++ b/catalogbuilder/intakebuilder/gfdlcrawler.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ def crawlLocal(projectdir, dictFilter,dictFilterIgnore,logger,configyaml,slow):
     set_ptemplate = set()
     set_ftemplate = set()
 
-    if( configyaml is not None):
+    if(configyaml is not None):
         if (configyaml.output_path_template is not None) & (configyaml.output_file_template is not None) :
           list_ptemplate = configyaml.output_path_template
           list_ftemplate = configyaml.output_file_template
@@ -59,7 +59,10 @@ def crawlLocal(projectdir, dictFilter,dictFilterIgnore,logger,configyaml,slow):
       missingcols.remove("path") #because we get this anyway
       logger.debug("Missing cols from metadata sources:"+ (str)(missingcols))
 
-   
+    #Creating a dictionary to track the unique datasets we come across when using slow mode
+    #The keys are the standard names and the values are lists tracking var_id,realm,etc..
+    unique_datasets = {'':''}
+ 
     #TODO INCLUDE filter in traversing through directories at the top
     for dirpath, dirs, files in os.walk(projectdir):
         searchpath = dirpath
@@ -119,12 +122,30 @@ def crawlLocal(projectdir, dictFilter,dictFilterIgnore,logger,configyaml,slow):
                # todo do the reverse if slow is on. Open file no matter what and populate dictionary values and if there is something missed out
                # we can scan filenames or config etc 
                #here, we will see if there are missing header values and compare with file attributes if slow option is turned on
-               if (slow == True) & (bool(dictInfo) == True) :
-                    print("Slow option turned on.. lets open some files using xarray and lookup atts",filename)
-                    #todo we could look at var attributes, but right now we stick to those that are necessary. scope to extend this easily to missngcols or if header info is not in config yaml 
-                    if "standard_name" in missingcols: 
+               # TODO: Possibly use slow option if lookup table can't find standard_name
+               if (slow == True) & (bool(dictInfo) == True):
+                    #TODO Possibly improvement: get a list of all files to be opened, dmget the files at once or in logical batches before examining with xarray
+                    #print("Slow option turned on.. lets open some files using xarray and lookup atts")
+                    
+                    #todo we could look at var attributes, but right now we stick to those that are necessary. scope to extend this easily to missngcols or if header info is not in config yaml
+                    if "standard_name" in missingcols:
+
+                        # Set standard_name as na to avoid error from getInfoFromVarAtts
                         dictInfo["standard_name"] = "na"
-                        getinfo.getInfoFromVarAtts(dictInfo["path"],dictInfo["variable_id"],dictInfo)
+
+                        # qualities define the uniqueness and help us determine when to open files. here, we define uniqueness by realm and var_id combinations. we store the realm/var_id pairs + their standard_names in unique_datasets{} and the current pair being checked as a tuple list called 'qualities'. if a pair stored in unique_datasets aligns with the current pair being checked, we won't open the file and will instead use the standard_name already found
+                        # TODO: Extended qualities to determine uniquness from more... qualities
+                        #TODO extend this to append other qualities later
+                        qualities=(dictInfo["variable_id"],dictInfo["realm"])
+                        if qualities in unique_datasets.keys():
+                            standard_name=unique_datasets[qualities]
+                            dictInfo["standard_name"]=standard_name
+
+                        else:
+                            logger.info("Retrieving standard_name from "+ (str)(filename))
+                            getinfo.getInfoFromVarAtts(dictInfo["path"],dictInfo["variable_id"],dictInfo)
+                            unique_datasets.update({ qualities : dictInfo["standard_name"] })
+
                #replace frequency as needed 
                if 'frequency' in dictInfo.keys():
                       package_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
diff --git a/catalogbuilder/scripts/gen_intake_gfdl.py b/catalogbuilder/scripts/gen_intake_gfdl.py
index aa57630..75c709e 100755
--- a/catalogbuilder/scripts/gen_intake_gfdl.py
+++ b/catalogbuilder/scripts/gen_intake_gfdl.py
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ def create_catalog(input_path=None, output_path=None, config=None, filter_realm=
 @click.option('--filter_chunk', nargs=1)
 @click.option('--overwrite', is_flag=True, default=False)
 @click.option('--append', is_flag=True, default=False)
-@click.option('--slow','-s', is_flag=True, default=False)
+@click.option('--slow','-s', is_flag=True, default=False, help='This option looks up standard names in netcdf file to fill up the standard name column if its present in the header specs. If standard_name is absent, long_name with space replaced by underscore is utilized')
 @click.option('--verbose/--silent', default=False, is_flag=True) #default has silent option. Use --verbose for detailed logging
 
 def create_catalog_cli(**kwargs):