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The subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) predictive timescale, encompassing lead times ranging from 2 weeks to a season, is at the frontier of forecasting science. Forecasts on this timescale provide opportunities for enhanced application-focused capabilities to complement existing weather and climate services and products. There is, however, a ‘knowledge-value’ gap, where a lack of evidence and awareness of the potential socio-economic benefits of S2S forecasts limits their wider uptake. To address this gap, here we present the first global community effort at summarizing relevant applications of S2S forecasts to guide further decision-making and support the continued development of S2S forecasts and related services. Focusing on 12 sectoral case studies spanning public health, agriculture, water resource management, renewable energy and utilities, and emergency management and response, we draw on recent advancements to explore their application and utility. These case studies mark a significant step forward in moving from potential to actual S2S forecasting applications. We show that by placing user needs at the forefront of S2S forecast development – demonstrating both skill and utility across sectors – this dialogue can be used to help promote and accelerate the awareness, value and co-generation of S2S forecasts. We also highlight that while S2S forecasts are increasingly gaining interest among users, incorporating probabilistic S2S forecasts into existing decision-making operations is not trivial. Nevertheless, S2S forecasting represents a significant opportunity to generate useful, usable and actionable forecast applications for and with users that will increasingly unlock the potential of this forecasting timescale.

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Hydrochemical investigation of groundwater was carried out on the coastal aquifers of Ogun Waterside, Southwestern Nigeria. Groundwater samples were collected and assayed for physicochemical parameters during wet season (August, 2016) and dry season (March, 2017). The analysed data were further subjected to correlation analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA), hydrochemical facies and descriptive statistics. Results revealed that the groundwater is slightly acidic with fresh to saline character. The CA showed very strong associations between TDS, EC and Cl concentrations in both wet and dry seasons. PCA confirmed the main factor influencing the groundwater chemistry in the study area to be component I (salinity component). Piper plots also revealed that the aquifer is mainly of water type. Schoeller and Stiff diagrams showed that the groundwater comprises relative abundance of major ions in the following order: for the cations and for the anions. Thus, the primary process influencing the hydrochemistry of the study area is saltwater invasion while mineral dissolution and rainwater infiltration play less significant roles. Most parameters fall within the permissible limit proposed by the World Health Organization (2011) and Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality (2007). However, higher concentrations of chloride and bicarbonate ions observed towards the southern flank of the study area suggest signs of impairment. Assessment of the sampled water for agricultural purposes with respect to salinity hazard, Total Hardness (TH), percentage sodium (%Na) and Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) revealed that the water is suitable for agricultural activities.

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