The snowmelt runoff simulation is a hot issue in the study of hydrology and water resources in arid regions. It is very important for the snowmelt flood risk assessment and the basin water resources management. Based on literature search and data analysis,the characteristics and development of snowmelt runoff models are discussed,and the application of different snowmelt runoff models in some typical river basins in arid regions are compared. The function and advantages /disadvantages of various models are evaluated. It is proposed that the future snowmelt runoff simulation should pay more attention to data resolution,and more accurate snow information can be obtained by multi-source remote sensing data driving. Under the more easily available data and the improvement of data accuracy,a spatially distributed snowmelt runoff simulation will be more based on energy balance. In order to improve the accuracy of snowmelt runoff simulation,the construction of the model should fully consider the change of parameters caused by climate warming. The model should be constructed with the consideration of the change of other parameters caused by climate warming and accurately describing the process of snow melting to improve the simulation accuracy of snowmelt runoff.