Deeply Virtual Neutral Pion Production Cross Section at CLAS12

Deeply virtual exclusive reactions provide unique channels to study both transverse and longitudinal properties of the nucleon simultaneously, allowing for a 3D image of nucleon substructure. The CLAS12 experiment in Jefferson Lab Hall B has recorded 400 $fb^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity of 10.6 GeV electrons incident on a liquid hydrogen target over a wide kinematic range relevant to these deeply virtual processes, and analysis of this data is currently in progress. This presentation will discuss the progress made on extracting an absolute cross section for one such exclusive process, deeply virtual $\pi^0$ production. This measurement is important as exclusive meson production has unique access to the chiral odd GPDs $\bar E_T$ and $H_T$, and is also a background for other exclusive processes such as DVCS, making the determination of this cross section crucial for other exclusive analyses.