Hyperspectral sensing sharpens public coastal monitoring
New procurement of a coastal hyperspectral sensor system signals growing public investment in detailed environmental data for seas and shorelines.
New procurement of a coastal hyperspectral sensor system signals growing public investment in detailed environmental data for seas and shorelines.
Follow Tenderlake on LinkedIn for concise insights on public-sector tenders and emerging procurement signals.
The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) is procuring a new hyperspectral sensor solution to strengthen monitoring of coastal and benthic environments, reflecting a wider shift towards advanced imaging technologies in public-sector environmental science.
Published in November 2025, the contract notice sets out Cefas’s requirement for a hyperspectral sensor capable of capturing data in the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) range, with an ambition to extend into the short-wave infrared (SWIR) where possible. The focus is firmly on 'enhanced monitoring of coastal and benthic environments', signalling a desire to see more detail in how near-shore and seabed conditions are changing.
The procurement emphasises that the purchase is not only about hardware. Cefas also seeks training and operational support for data processing, acknowledging that hyperspectral systems generate complex datasets that need specialist skills to interpret and to fold into routine monitoring programmes.
Based on the notice, key elements of the requirement include:
While the brief document does not spell out survey platforms or integration plans, it aligns with a growing public-sector focus on richer, non-standard imagery. In March 2025, Ordnance Survey issued a remote sensing acquisition framework to cover the capture, post-processing and creation of datasets from remotely sensed data, explicitly expanding beyond standard nadir imagery.
Cefas’s move into hyperspectral sensing sits in the same current: public bodies are gradually moving away from simple, single-band imagery towards more flexible, information-rich imaging systems.
The contract also fits into a broader push to improve how coasts and seas are observed. In May 2025, the Scottish Government signalled its own ambitions with a prior information notice for a Scottish coastal LiDAR survey, commissioning airborne LiDAR of the coastal zone to support adaptation efforts and planning phased surveys around tide conditions.
On the same day, Natural England published a notice for LiDAR surveys for marine data, seeking digital aerial surveys combined with airborne LiDAR to gather data on seabird and marine mammal populations, including flight altitude information, with outputs to be made publicly available.
Where these LiDAR projects focus on topography and animal distribution in the air column, Cefas’s hyperspectral purchase is directed at the water’s edge and the seabed. Together they point to a layered approach to coastal evidence: combining elevation models, species data and detailed spectral information about coastal and benthic conditions.
Elsewhere in Europe, similar patterns are visible. In July 2025, the Finnish Environment Institute issued a contract notice for very high resolution satellite data covering coastal and lake areas, demanding almost daily coverage, specific band configurations and access to both new and archive data. In March 2025, the Loughs Agency sought marine survey services to carry out ecological surveys and habitat mapping in the coastal and marine waters of Northern Ireland and Ireland, feeding into marine spatial planning and species conservation under the MOSAIC Project.
In October 2025, Germany’s Federal Institute of Hydrology procured a UAS-based bathymetric LiDAR system for shallow waters and adjacent land, including user training, while in October 2025 Spain’s Fundación Biodiversidad went to market for surveillance demonstrations in protected marine areas of the Natura 2000 Network using underwater cameras, satellite data, drones and radar systems.
Across these projects, public bodies are assembling a dense mix of technologies — LiDAR, satellite imagery, hyperspectral sensors and in situ surveys — to build evidence bases that can underpin environmental impact assessments, climate adaptation and biodiversity protection. Cefas’s new sensor is another piece of that puzzle, focused on detailed spectral information from coastal and seabed environments.
The Cefas notice is part of a wider surge in hyperspectral and multi-sensor procurements. In August 2025, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences published a contract notice for a hyperspectral drone system that integrates VNIR, SWIR and LiDAR sensors for high-resolution monitoring of forest stress and early detection of environmental impacts.
In June 2025, Lund University in Sweden sought a short-wave infrared hyperspectral imaging platform combining a complete laboratory instrument package with a focal plane sensor for LiDAR development. In September 2025, Bulgaria’s Ruse University 'Angel Kanchev' called for the delivery of two hyperspectral cameras, one designed for use on drones and the other for laboratory applications.
By October 2025, Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania had gone to tender for environmental research equipment combining a drone-based scanner, a ground-based scanner and a hyperspectral medium-wave infrared camera.
Compared with these multi-platform systems, Cefas’s requirement is narrower in scope but similar in technical direction: a move towards sensors that can capture fine-grained spectral information, which can later be paired with other datasets such as LiDAR or survey data as monitoring programmes evolve.
New imaging capabilities are also being applied to pollutants. In March 2025, UK Research & Innovation launched a tender for infrared chemical imaging and spectroscopy equipment to characterise microplastics and degraded microplastics from environmental samples. Three months later, Ireland’s Education Procurement Service sought an infrared-based chemical imaging system to enhance the detection and quantification of microplastics, with wider applications in environmental science, food safety and biomedical research.
These procurements underline how advanced spectral techniques are becoming mainstream tools for understanding both ecosystems and contaminants. Cefas’s hyperspectral sensor for coastal and benthic monitoring is a natural extension of this trend into marine settings.
Across many of these notices, buyers are careful to include services alongside equipment. Cefas asks for training and operational support for processing hyperspectral data. Germany’s Federal Institute of Hydrology couples its bathymetric LiDAR system with user training, while the Ordnance Survey framework explicitly covers post-processing and dataset creation rather than raw imagery alone.
Some agencies are also embedding automation and analytics requirements. In June 2025, Spain’s Subdirección General de Gestión Económica issued a contract notice for an environmental surveillance system designed to improve fire prevention and monitoring through aerial platforms with AI capabilities, aiming to reduce reliance on personnel and optimise responses to environmental risks.
Taken together, these approaches show public bodies moving towards end-to-end capabilities: sensors, platforms, processing pipelines and trained staff, with increasing attention to automation where appropriate. Cefas’s insistence on training and operational support positions its hyperspectral project within that service-oriented model rather than as a one-off equipment purchase.
The Cefas notice is brief and leaves important details unstated, such as the platforms on which the sensor will be deployed or how frequently surveys will take place. What is clear is the intention to add a new layer of spectral detail to existing coastal and benthic monitoring activities.
As the contract progresses, observers will be watching how the new hyperspectral capability meshes with other UK and European initiatives in coastal LiDAR, satellite monitoring and marine survey work. With public-sector buyers from Scotland to Finland and Spain already investing in advanced sensing systems, Cefas’s procurement suggests that detailed, multi-source environmental data will continue to shape how coasts and seas are assessed and managed in the years ahead.
Follow Tenderlake on LinkedIn for concise insights on public-sector tenders and emerging procurement signals.