Differential Heating in the Indian Ocean Differentially Modulates Precipitation in the Ganges and Brahmaputra Basins

This dataset provides an assessment of the differential heating in the Indian Ocean (IO) and the subsequent modulation of the Ganges and Brahmaputra precipitation. Indo-Pacific sea surface temperature dynamics play a prominent role in Asian summer monsoon variability. Using 28 years of remote sensing observations, we demonstrate that (i) the tropical west-east differential heating in the IO influences the Ganges precipitation and (ii) the north-south differential heating in the IO influences the Brahmaputra precipitation. The El Niño phase induces warming in the warm pool of the IO and exerts more influence on Ganges precipitation than Brahmaputra precipitation. The analyses indicate that both the magnitude and position of the sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the IO are important drivers for precipitation dynamics that can be effectively summarized using two new indices, one tuned for each basin. The dataset consists of the spatial structure of the SST anomalies in the IO, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra precipitation dynamics, and the variability in wind, outgoing longwave radiation, and geopotential height anomalies, as well as the new geographic zones to compute west-east and north-south zonal differences in SST anomalies. The purpose of the analyses was to understand the forcing of the precipitation in these river basins associated with changes in acquired energy during different climate modes in the Indo-Pacific.