Release iLand 2.2

Author

Werner Rammer

Published

July 28, 2026

iLand 2.2 – Release Notes

We are pleased to announce the release of iLand 2.2! Continuing our annual summer release cadence, version 2.2 combines major documentation infrastructure improvements, automated multi-platform builds, southern hemisphere simulation support, and a round of important bug fixes and refinements.

Below is an overview of the key additions and changes in this release.

New Webpage and Documentation Framework

We have always been dedicated to providing comprehensive documentation for iLand. Over the years, we built an extensive Wiki to document model processes, parameters, outputs, and scripting interfaces.

To bring documentation and source code closer together, we have migrated the entire documentation to a Quarto Markdown (.qmd) framework located directly in the Git repository under docs/.

Key Benefits:

  • Code & Docs in Lockstep: Documentation now lives alongside the code in Git, allowing updates to be made in the same pull requests and commits as code changes.
  • Unified Structure: Combines wiki pages, technical guides, API documentation, and blog posts into a single, cohesive static site.
  • Automated API Docs: Generated JavaScript and C++ API documentation scripts keep method signatures and variables up to date.

Automated CI/CD iLand Builds for Windows, Linux & macOS

To improve cross-platform support and streamline testing, we established an automated CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions.

Build Pipeline Highlights:

  • Multi-Platform Support: Automatically builds iLand, ilandc (console shell), and fonstudio for Windows, Linux, and macOS.
  • Pre-packaged Release Binaries:
    • Windows: Zip archives containing compiled executables and required Qt / FreeImage DLLs.
    • Linux: Standalone AppImages bundling Wayland plugins and SQLite drivers.
    • macOS: Native .app bundles packaged into .dmg disk images for drag-and-drop installation.
  • Qt 6 Compatibility: Modernized build scripts to support Qt 6 across all target operating systems.

iLand on the Southern Hemisphere

Version 2.2 introduces integrated support for modeling forest landscapes in the Southern Hemisphere.

Key Adjustments:

  • Seasonality & Solar Geometry: Solar zenith/azimuth angles and radiation calculations adapt dynamically to southern latitudes.
  • Monthly Climate Cycles: Temperature, precipitation, and day-length patterns shift seamlessly to reflect Southern Hemisphere seasonal calendars.

Bug Fixes & Refinements

This release also includes several bug fixes and stability enhancements:

  • Index of Biodiversity Potential (IBP) & Deadwood:
    • Integrated single-tree tracking for standing deadwood (Component C) and lying deadwood (Component D) in SVDIndicatorOut.
    • Added a forceDeadWoodPools parameter to allow fallback to pool-based calculations when needed.
    • Fixed maximum score threshold calculation (32 points max).
    • Enhanced MainWindow GUI with interactive detailed inspection for individual snags.
  • ABE-Library Resource Path Handling:
    • Improved path resolution in GlobalSettings.path() for Qt resource files (qrc://).
    • Added lib.path property to reference the root folder of ABE libraries.
  • CO2 Concentration Validation:
    • Added a sanity check throwing explicit errors on invalid or out-of-bounds CO2 values in climate input files.
  • Custom Aggregation Output (customaggout):
    • Fixed a missing break in a switch statement that caused landscape-level aggregation to incorrectly emit resource-unit level rows.
  • Linux CLI Decimal Parsing Bug:
    • Resolved an issue where Linux systems with mixed locale settings (e.g. LANG=en_US.UTF-8 with LC_NUMERIC=de_DE.UTF-8) failed to parse decimal numbers silently in XML files. Fixed by explicitly setting std::setlocale(LC_NUMERIC, "C") in ilandc.

Download & Getting Started

You can download iLand 2.2 for Windows, macOS, and Linux from our updated Download Page or directly from the GitHub Release Page.