The following table contains a list of various advantages and disadvantages regarding the aforementioned snowmelt methods available for use within HEC-HMS.  However, these are only guidelines and should be supplemented by knowledge of, and experience with, the methods and the watershed in question.

Method

Advantages

Disadvantages

Temperature Index
  • "Mature" method that has been used successfully in thousands of studies throughout the U.S.
  • Easy to set up and use
  • Only requires precipitation and air temperature boundary conditions
  • More parsimonious than other methods
  • May be too simple for some situations
  • Limited snowpack outputs compared to other methods
Hybrid/Radiation-derived Temperature Index
  • Incorporates factors such as short and longwave radiation into snowmelt equations
  • Can incorporate terrain slope, aspect, and shading
  • More snowpack outputs than Temperature Index method
  • Requires more meteorologic boundary conditions than Temperature Index
  • Less mature than other methods
Energy Budget
  • Incorporates factors such as short and longwave radiation, sensible heat flux, sublimation, condensation, and wind into snowmelt equations
  • Can incorporate terrain slope, aspect, and shading
  • Lots of snowpack outputs available including SWE, snow density, snow depth, snowpack temperature, snowpack energy, albedo, etc.
  • Requires many meteorologic boundary conditions
  • Computationally intensive
  • Solution isn’t guaranteed to converge
  • Much less parsimonious than other methods