A Review on Snowmelt Models: Progress and Prospect

Abstract

The frequency and intensity of flood events have been increasing recently under the warming climate, with snowmelt floods being a significant part. As an effective manner of simulating snowmelt flood, snowmelt models have attracted more and more attention. Through comprehensive analysis of the literature, this paper reviewed the characteristics and current status of different types of snowmelt models, as well as the different coupling methods of models for runoff generation and confluence. We then discussed key issues in snowmelt modelling, including blowing snow model, frozen ground model, and rain-on-snow model. Finally, we give some perspectives from four aspects: data, model structure, forecast and early warning, and forecast and estimation. At present, most of the snowmelt models do not have blowing snow or frozen ground modules. Explicit consideration of blowing snow and soil freezing/thawing processes can improve the accuracy of snowmelt runoff simulations. With climate warming, rain-on-snow events have increased, but the mechanism of enhanced rain and snow mixed flooding is still unclear, particularly for the mechanism of rain-snow-ice mixed runoff generation. The observation and simulation of rain and snow processes urgently need further study. A distributed physical snowmelt model based on energy balance is an advanced tool for snowmelt simulation, but the model structure and parameter schemes still need further improvements. Moreover, the integration of satellite-based snow products, isotopes, and terrestrial water storage change, monitored by gravity satellites, can help improve the calibration and validation of snowmelt models.

Fields of Application of SWAT Hydrological Model—A Review

“…Additionally, the incidence of rain on snow is increasing as the climate warms. The observation and simulation of rain and snow processes should be further studied to improve the calibration and validation of snow-melting models [30]. Studies have been conducted on peak flows using a combination of SWAT and machine learning methods.…”

“…These include benchmarking methods, historical inversion methods, model prediction methods, extreme land-use methods, and land-use spatial allocations [16]. Several scientists worldwide have used the SWAT model in different watersheds to analyse the hydrological impacts of environmental change [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. Most of them have studied hydrological impacts due to environmental changes, such as the isolated impacts of climate change or land use change.…”

Simulation and Analysis of the Dynamic Characteristics of Groundwater in Taliks in the Eruu Area, Central Yakutia

“…The LAK module was used to address the water exchange between the lake and groundwater. For snowmelt infiltration in spring, an equation [40] was used to calculate the amount of snowmelt infiltration per day, and the calculated values were input into the following model:…”

Vertical characteristics of temperature and relative humidity during the spring continuous warming processes in Altay, Xinjiang of China

“…Under the background of climate warming, such regional snowmelt floods are more responsive to climate change than other types of floods [3], and can cause significant damages to local social life and infrastructures [4,5]. On the one hand, drought and water shortage are still the important factors that restrict the development of industry, agriculture and animal husbandry in this region [6]. on the other hand, Altay is a high-risk area where snowmelt flood disaster tends to occur often in spring [7,8].…”