Welcome to the June 2026 edition of the AvaFrame monthly update:
This month brought improvements across the dense flow module, a new compilation approach for com9, and several documentation updates. An external contribution from @NUForever extended the DFA path generation in the analysis tools, allowing runout analysis all the way to the deposit front. The com9 module now compiles automatically as part of the build process, removing the need for a separately maintained executable. A new shapefile-to-raster function enables spatially variable Voellmy friction configurations for com6. The developer guide received a section on LLM/AI usage to help contributors to apply these tools responsibly in relation to our codebase.
Features
Dense Flow Module (com1DFA)
- PR #1300 (link ) consolidated TIF validity checks into a reusable function.
- PR #1290 (link ) added a saving option for resistance fields.
Analysis Tools
- PR #1296 (link
)
added
extBottomOptionto ana5, extending DFA path generation to the deposit front for more complete runout analysis. - PR #1299 (link ) introduced collection and summary of comparison warnings in the logging module, making it easier to spot discrepancies across simulation runs.
com9 Compilation
- PR #1281 (link ) replaced the previously hardcoded com9 executable with an integrated compilation step, bringing it in line with how other computational modules are built.
Spatial Friction (com6)
- PR #1074 (link
)
added
VariableVoellmyShapeToRasterto generate Voellmy friction rasters from shapefile features, enabling spatially variable friction configurations.
Other Enhancements
- PR #1297 (link ) added a new configuration parameter shared between com1 and com8.
- PR #1280 (link ) added a raster-to-NetCDF conversion function in in2Trans.
- PR #1213 (link ) added release area information output to com4FlowPy.
Bug Fixes
Particle Analysis
- PR #1302 (link ) fixed a problem with the runscript for particle analysis in out3Plot.
Testing and CI
- PR #1288 (link ) fixed a path bug in the com4 tests.
- PR #1289 (link ) updated the Pixi setup GitHub Action to v0.9.6.
Documentation Fix
- PR #1286 (link ) clarified the time-stepping configuration in both the com1DFA documentation and the config file, resolving a common point of confusion.
Documentation
Developer Guide
- PR #1284 (link ) added a section on LLM/AI usage to the developer guide.
Config Descriptions
- PR #1283 (link ) improved the entrainment description in the com1DFA config file to explicitly mention frontal entrainment.
See you next month!
Felix