Traditional approaches for analyzing antecedent moisture effects rely on physically-based models derived from first principles, such as the principles of energy, momentum, and continuity, which rely on measurements of many parameters for input and simulation.
Some modeling approaches-such as the Hydrologic Simulation Program - Fortran (HSPF) or the Stanford Watershed Model developed by Crawford and Linsley (1966)-attempt to address antecedent moisture conditions through a complex physically based representation of the transport paths of water on the surface and in the subsurface.