MONICA Versions
This page lists the MONICA versions that have been made available as public releases. It is intended to help users identify a reproducible model version and understand important compatibility changes between releases.
Release identifiers
A MONICA release can have three related identifiers:
- Version is the user-facing version shown on the GitHub Releases page.
- Git tag identifies the exact source revision. Some tags contain a build number or a short description in addition to the version.
- Build number occurs in some older tags and installer names. For example, version 3.3.1, build 208, is tagged
3.3.1.208.
For reproducible work, record the complete Git tag and retain the simulation configuration, parameter data, and climate inputs used with that version.
Public GitHub releases
The following table contains every release published on the MONICA GitHub Releases page. Dates are GitHub publication dates, not tag creation dates.
| Version | Git tag | Published | Main changes or release note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.6.56 | 3.6.56.OxygenDeficit_fix |
2026-05-27 | Prevents negative oxygen stress factors during prolonged waterlogging and adds the optional VanGenuchtenToth method for estimating soil hydraulic properties |
| 3.6.54 | 3.6.54.fixed_rounding_bug |
2026-03-26 | Adds automatic irrigation start dates, PASW-dependent root penetration, perennial crop dormancy parameters, configurable light extinction, flexible RCP input, and residue incorporation depth. It also fixes rounding overflow, negative yields, and transpiration and nitrogen stress outputs. |
| 3.6.32 | 3.6.32.toth_ser_TUA |
2025-02-24 | Adds the Toth method for estimating field capacity, saturation, and permanent wilting point. Adds the TimeUnderAnoxia output. |
| 3.6.30 | 3.6.30 |
2024-12-03 | Restores the NitrogenResponseOn setting: when disabled, nitrogen stress no longer reduces simulated crop growth |
| 3.6.27 | 3.6.27 |
2024-10-29 | Adds a configurable anoxia duration threshold for crop oxygen stress and new automatic irrigation parameters for soil depth and target plant available water. It also fixes N-demand fertilization scheduling and workstep error reporting. |
| 3.6.12 | 3.6.12 |
2024-04-18 | Major model and packaging update; replaces the Windows installer with a ZIP distribution. Revises SOM decomposition and soil-specific rooting depth calculations, corrects anthesis timing for six-stage crops, and supports crop-specific vernalization fixes. It also improves soil parameter handling and fixes residue carbon, groundwater, and early sowing errors. |
| 3.3.1 | 3.3.1.208 |
2021-09-21 | Adds RCP 2.6-8.5 curves, flexible harvest exports, emergence and stem elongation events, and full model-state serialization. It also fixes frost, dehardening, and measured groundwater handling. |
| 3.2.12 | 3.2.12.202 |
2020-10-13 | Adds a crop emergence event for event-based simulation outputs and workflows |
| 3.2.10 | 3.2.10.200 |
2020-09-30 | Adds rooting zone depth and layer-specific root density outputs for analysing simulated root development and distribution |
| 3.2.8 | 3.2.8.197 |
2020-08-12 | Corrects the maize anthesis event so flowering is reported at the appropriate developmental stage |
| 3.2.6 | 3.2.6.195 |
2020-06-19 | Fixes the STICS implementation, applies a minimum wind speed of 0.5 m/s when calculating reference evapotranspiration, and improves soil hydraulic estimates by deriving missing KA5 texture classes from sand and clay content |
| 3.2.3 | 3.2.3.188 |
2020-03-18 | Ensures supplied relative humidity data are correctly used in evapotranspiration and soil water calculations |
| 3.2.2 | 3.2.2.186 |
2020-01-09 | Fixes automatic sowing so the crop is sown by the configured latest date even when the soil temperature criterion is not met |
| 3.2.0 | 3.2.0.184 |
2019-12-13 | Adds STICS-based nitrification, denitrification, and N2O emissions, soil temperature-driven automatic sowing, and LAI adjustment after cutting. It also revises organic matter application, fixes biological nitrogen fixation, and adds nitrogen- and water-uptake outputs. |
| 2.2.1 | 2.2.1.166 |
2019-02-04 | Corrects nitrogen transport and leaching across soil layers and keeps dead organ biomass consistent after cutting |
| 2.2.0 | 2.2.0.163 |
2019-01-08 | Improves biomass handling after cutting, included dead organ biomass, and allows irrigation worksteps without explicitly specified irrigation parameters |
| 2.1.0 build 159 | 2.1.0.159 |
2018-10-09 | Improves event-based output configuration and result aggregation |
| 2.1.0 build 157 | 2.1.0.157 |
2018-09-11 | Adds multiple crop rotations, accepts daily reference evapotranspiration (ETo) from climate data, and introduces configurable ozone exposure and long-term crop responses. It also updates humus-balance and VOC calculations and fixes SOC turnover and the FvCB CO2 response. |
| 2.0.2 build 143 | 2.0.2.143 |
2018-08-31 | |
| 2.0.2 | 2.0.2 |
2018-07-03 | Adds Wang-Engel temperature response phenology, impenetrable soil depth settings, yearly CO2 input, enhanced cutting and harvest controls, and optional frost killing. It also fixes sowing and harvesting, crop stage events, LAI after cutting, carboxylation, and residue humus balance. |
| 2.0.1 | 2.0.1-4 |
2017-06-02 | Adds hourly FvCB photosynthesis, ozone impact modeling, configurable temperature responses, cultivation method repetition controls, and additional soil property outputs. It also fixes workstep timing, N2O calculations, and the FvCB model. |
| 2.0.0 | v2.0.0 |
2017-05-30 | Moves MONICA exclusively to JSON configuration and introduces important model fixes that invalidate earlier crop calibrations |
Legacy releases
| Version | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2.0 beta | 2016 | Pre-release for MONICA 2.0 and its JSON-based configuration workflow |
| 1.2.1 | 2015-06-17 | Fixes automatic harvest scheduling for winter wheat, which could trigger one year too early |
| 1.2 | 2014-07-25 | Introduces the perennial crop module and provides the version used for the MACSUR simulation runs |
| 1.1.1 | 2012-12-07 | Version prepared for Leuphana University Lüneburg |
| 1.1 | 2012-04-19 | |
| 1.0 | 2011-05 | First MONICA release |
Compatibility guidance
- Treat the model version, parameter version, and input data as one reproducibility unit. Results can change when any of these changes.
- Version 2.0.0 requires the JSON configuration format and crop reparameterization unless the parameters were already prepared for 2.0.0.
- Version 3.6.12 contains model changes that can produce different results from 3.3.1 with the same inputs. Existing projects should be validated against measurements and may require reparameterization.
- From 3.6.12 onward, public Windows builds use ZIP archives rather than the older installer workflow, allowing multiple versions to be kept side by side.
Obtaining a release
Download packaged builds and their source archives from the GitHub Releases page. To check out an exact source revision, use its complete tag. For example:
git clone https://github.com/zalf-rpm/monica.git
cd monica
git checkout 3.6.56.OxygenDeficit_fix