About the Call for Tenders  

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), on behalf of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) and funded by the European Union, has launched a new call for tenders focused on the provision of operational services for satellite-derived climate data products. This procurement falls under the C3S’s ongoing mission to ensure access to high-quality, consistent, and traceable climate data in support of climate monitoring, policy-making, and scientific research.  

The call aims to secure service providers capable of delivering long-term, homogeneous Climate Data Records (CDRs) and Interim Climate Data Records (ICDRs) derived from satellite observations and made accessible via the Copernicus Climate Data Store (CDS).  

With an estimated contract value of EUR 2.75 million, this initiative represents a critical step toward consolidating Europe’s leadership in climate intelligence through robust, standardized, and transparent satellite-based climate records. 

The Challenges 

The core objective of this tender is to establish and enhance the end-to-end operational chains required to generate and disseminate global or near-global climate datasets rooted in satellite observations. Tenderers are expected to deliver mature, validated datasets that meet stringent requirements of temporal consistency, spatial coverage, uncertainty quantification, and scientific traceability. Beyond dataset generation, services must include the operation and maintenance of processing systems, continuous quality assurance, comprehensive metadata management, documentation of algorithms, and user support. Data must be made available through the CDS and align with its standards for interoperability and transparency.  

The Call is divided into six thematic Lots, each dedicated to the generation and maintenance of long-term, globally consistent CDRs for six key Essential Climate Variables (ECVs):  

• Lot 1 – Sea Surface Salinity

• Lot 2 – Permafrost, including temperature, extent, and active layer thickness, 

• Lot 3 – Above-ground Biomass, 

• Lot 4 – Albedo, spectral and broadband DHR & BHR with Associated Spectral Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) parameter, 

• Lot 5 – Leaf Area Index, 

• Lot 6 – Fraction of Absorbed Photosyntetically Active Radiation.

Key Information 

📅 Deadline for submission of tenders: 17 September 2025 - 16:00:00 (UTC+2) Eastern European Time, Central European Summer 

📍 For full details on the technical requirements, please visit the TED eTendering portal.  

💼 How to apply? Participation is open to all interested economic operators, including SMEs, research institutions, public bodies, and private companies established in EU Member States, e or in a Copernicus Participating State.  Any economic operator willing to participate in this call for tenders must be registered on the ECMWF's eProcurement Portal. 

🌐 Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted: English 

The SPIN4EIC consortium is not responsible for the initiatives launched by private or public buyers. Each participating entity is solely responsible for its own challenge, including the selection process, communication with applicants, and all information provided to participants.