The Pushbroom Imager for Cloud and Aerosol Research and Development (PICARD) is an airborne imaging spectrometer operated by the Airborne Sensor Facility (ASF) at Ames Research Center (ARC) with science and management support from Goddard Space Flight Center. It provides visible near-infrared (VNIR) and short-wave infrared (SWIR) imagery to support atmospheric research and validate satellite retrievals. PICARD operates across 205 spectral bands over a wavelength range of 400-2500 nm. It has a pixel spatial resolution of 5-50 m and a swath width of 2-16 km, depending on altitude. PICARD has a frame rate of 6.25-100 Hz, depending on integration time, and a field of view of 50 degrees.

PICARD is designed to operate in conjunction with the Enhanced MODIS Airborne Simulator (eMAS) on the NASA ER-2, with the two datasets being merged post-fight, for a combined spectral range of 0.400 - 14.133µm.