CarboNium

Coordinating institution : CNRS

Project leaders : Laure Gandois and Julien Nemery
Project duration : 60 months | September 1st 2023 → August 31th 2028

Grant : 1 994  149 €

 

Institutional partnerships : Nantes Univ - Univ. La Rochelle - INRAE - Université de Grenoble - Université de Nouvelle Calédonie - Université de Rennes - Mines Paris - IPGP

Associated institutions : Université de Perpignan - Université de Franche-Comté - Université d’Orléans - Université Rouen Normandie - Université de Lyon - Université Savoie Mont Blanc - IRD - Grenoble INP - Institut Agro Montpellier - Université Paris Cité

 

 

 

The CarboNium project (“Carbon dynamics in the terrestrial–aquatic continuum: Infrastructure support”) of the FairCarboN PEPR aims to improve documentation of the carbon cycle at the interface between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (surface waters, wetlands), at the interface between continental surfaces and the oceans (coastal ecosystems, estuaries), and along river systems forming the land–sea continuum. Better quantifying carbon fluxes and understanding carbon dynamics in aquatic ecosystems is essential for establishing comprehensive carbon budgets and constraining greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from continental surfaces.

In this context, CarboNium will address the following objectives:

• Synthesize carbon flux and stock data across the terrestrial–aquatic continuum from French research‑infrastructure observatory sites.
• Increase the density of observations—including high‑frequency instrumentation—of carbon fluxes and stocks at these observatory sites.
• Harmonize the protocols used by the French research community to study the carbon cycle in the terrestrial–aquatic continuum.
• Develop a community modelling platform for the carbon cycle across the land–sea continuum.

CarboNium was designed to support research infrastructures and to align with national programmes such as Terra Forma. It is structured around three main goals: data synthesis, observation enhancement, and continuum‑scale modelling. The project is organised into eight work packages (WPs):

• Two cross‑cutting WPs dedicated to synthesizing carbon flux and stock data.
• Five WPs focused on instrumentation and acquisition of new carbon‑dynamics data across the relevant environments: watersheds, continental and coastal wetlands, lakes, and estuaries.
• One modelling WP dedicated to representing the carbon cycle at the scale of the land–sea continuum.

CarboNium will enable the aquatic‑carbon community to acquire new knowledge on the dynamics, fluxes, and stocks of carbon in surface and groundwater, continental and coastal wetlands, and estuaries. It will provide the French scientific community working on the aquatic carbon cycle with a collaborative framework for instrumental development, methodological harmonisation, and modelling. This structuring will enhance the community’s international visibility and facilitate participation in global aquatic‑carbon monitoring networks.

The CarboNium project will involve more than 40 researchers from 15 laboratories, working within CNRS and INRAE research infrastructures such as AnaEE, OZCAR, RZA, REGEF, and ILICO.