The Observing Systems Capability Analysis and Review Tool (OSCAR) provides detailed information on Earth Observation applications and on World Meteorological Organization (WMO) research and global coordination. The resource consists of OSCAR/Requirements, OSCAR/Space and OSCAR/Surface (a developing inventory of all surface-based stations and related capabilities) as interlinked components. WMO Members need to learn how to use the tool for successful implementation of the WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS) Metadata Standard approved at the Seventeenth Session of the World Meteorological Congress in 2015.

The OSCAR/Surface Training Course for the RA-II East Asia Subregion was held by WMO at the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) headquarters in Tokyo from 13 to 15 November 2019. The event was attended by 16 OSCAR/Surface National Focal Points or their alternates from 14 National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Iran, Japan, Lao PDR, the Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as presenters from the WMO Secretariat.

The course covered the WIGOS Metadata Representation model, updating of metadata for surface-based observation systems with the OSCAR/Surface web interface, and review/improvement of national processes related to metadata collection and processing. Attendees received certification at the end of the course.