diff --git a/R/fetchSCAN.R b/R/fetchSCAN.R
index 8aa62b27..b47f926b 100644
--- a/R/fetchSCAN.R
+++ b/R/fetchSCAN.R
@@ -73,10 +73,10 @@
 #' 
 #' @param site.code a vector of site codes. If `NULL` `SCAN_site_metadata()` returns metadata for all SCAN sites.
 #' @param year a vector of years
-#' @param report report name, single value only
+#' @param report report name, single value only; default `'SCAN'`, other example options include individual sensor codes, e.g. `'SMS'` for Soil Moisture Storage, `'TEMP'` for temperature
 #' @param timeseries either `'Daily'` or `'Hourly'`
 #' @param ... additional arguments. May include `intervalType`, `format`, `sitenum`, `interval`, `year`, `month`. Presence of additional arguments bypasses default batching functionality provided in the function and submits a 'raw' request to the API form.
-#' @return a \code{data.frame} object; `NULL` on bad request.
+#' @return a `list` of `data.frame` objects, where each element name is a sensor type, plus a `metadata` table; different `report` types change the types of sensor data returned. `SCAN_sensor_metadata()` and `SCAN_site_metadata()` return a `data.frame`. `NULL` on bad request. 
 #' @author D.E. Beaudette, A.G. Brown
 #' @keywords manip
 #' @examples
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ fetchSCAN <- function(site.code = NULL, year = NULL, report = 'SCAN', timeseries
   
   # Time ranges from  "00:00" to "23:00" [24 hourly readings]
   # set Time to 12:00 (middle of day) for daily data
-  if (all(res$Time == "")) {
+  if (is.null(res$Time) || all(res$Time == "")) {
     res$Time <- "12:00"
   }
   
diff --git a/man/fetchSCAN.Rd b/man/fetchSCAN.Rd
index 98ab9f5e..60822097 100644
--- a/man/fetchSCAN.Rd
+++ b/man/fetchSCAN.Rd
@@ -23,14 +23,14 @@ SCAN_site_metadata(site.code = NULL)
 
 \item{year}{a vector of years}
 
-\item{report}{report name, single value only}
+\item{report}{report name, single value only; default \code{'SCAN'}, other example options include individual sensor codes, e.g. \code{'SMS'} for Soil Moisture Storage, \code{'TEMP'} for temperature}
 
 \item{timeseries}{either \code{'Daily'} or \code{'Hourly'}}
 
 \item{...}{additional arguments. May include \code{intervalType}, \code{format}, \code{sitenum}, \code{interval}, \code{year}, \code{month}. Presence of additional arguments bypasses default batching functionality provided in the function and submits a 'raw' request to the API form.}
 }
 \value{
-a \code{data.frame} object; \code{NULL} on bad request.
+a \code{list} of \code{data.frame} objects, where each element name is a sensor type, plus a \code{metadata} table; different \code{report} types change the types of sensor data returned. \code{SCAN_sensor_metadata()} and \code{SCAN_site_metadata()} return a \code{data.frame}. \code{NULL} on bad request.
 }
 \description{
 Query soil/climate data from USDA-NRCS SCAN Stations