Test region from CR 2150 observed for different cadences and averaging methods. (a) Reference case standard SDO/HMI synoptic map at 12 minute cadence. Each Carrington coordinate is averaged from the 20 closest ‘HMI.M_720s’ magnetograms within a 30° window. (b) Updated synoptic map pipeline, which incorporates a narrow weight function with 5% contribution at the central meridian of the adjacent magnetogram slice. (c) Same as (b) but a wider weight function with 55% contribution at the central meridian of the adjacent magnetogram slice. (d) Same as panel a but at a reduced cadence of 12 h. Panels e–g show a comparison of the magnetic field distribution between the reference synoptic map in (a) and the adjacent low cadence and the low-cadence variants in (b), (c), and (d). The resulting linear fit equation is provided in each panel.