APERO wishes to deepen the understanding of carbon storage in the Ocean. For this, APERO is mobilizing 120 French and international scientists, 65 scientists at sea, 40 days of campaign and two oceanographic vessels.

APERO proposes a mechanistic approach of the biological carbon pump (export of surface production of biogenic carbon and fate in the water column -200/2000m). APERO aims at reducing the gap between the quantity of organic carbon produced by photosynthesis transferred to the deep ocean and the carbon demand in the water column. The three major contributions of APERO are the study of the role of small-scale dynamics (~1-10km) using autonomous platforms, imaging and innovative instrumentation, the simultaneous observation of all the processes regulating the attenuation of carbon flux in the water column and the quantification of the fluxes associated with these processes. Based on a substantial international collaboration and an ambitious observation strategy, complemented by molecular biology and modeling approaches, the field study, planned for 2022, will contribute to a significant reduction in the uncertainties of carbon storage by the ocean.