“…In these works, complex patterns between the SSC and relevant environmental factors are extracted through either machine learning approaches (Cigizoglu, 2004), deep learning with more hidden layers (Hamshaw et al, 2018;Ying et al, 2020) or statistical modelling approaches (Kuhnert et al, 2012). Machine learning approaches mainly approximate a mapping for SSC pattern partitioning through a combination of nonlinear transformations or kernels, such as artificial neural networks (Kabiri-Samani et al, 2011;Khan et al, 2019;James et al, 2018;Teixeira et al, 2020), support vector machines (Kişi, 2012), and tree regression (Malik et al, 2017;Huang et al, 2021), and have achieved better prediction accuracy than physical models, but the physical interpretation is relatively limited. Statistical modelling approaches have become more popular for SSC forecasting in recent years (Wang et al, 2011;Wang and Tian, 2013;Liang et al, 2017;Wang et al, 2015), benefiting from their better interpretation of physical processes than machine learning approaches.…”