Overview of the use of Light Detection and Ranging and Ground Penetrating Radar implemented on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Currently, there is a rapid increase in interest in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These devices can be used as platform for carrying various sensors, often enabling access to hard-to-reach areas using traditional, ground-based methods. Very popular sensors used in non-invasive search work include Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). The combination of the above sensors with UAVs is becoming increasingly common, which provides many benefits in many areas, such as archaeology, forensics, agriculture, rescue, terrain mapping, or landmine detection. This article is a synthetic review of the principle of operation and the use of technologies such as LiDAR and GPR, as well as their use on unmanned flying platforms. Issues related to the use of these sensors on various UAV configurations and the resulting conditions of work are discussed. The differences between LiDAR and GPR are also discussed, as well as the possible analysis of the examined area using both technologies to obtain the best effect. The implementation of these non-invasive search methods is not a threat to traditional searches in the form of excavations, but only a method preceding invasive research. Thanks to such an innovative approach, the effectiveness of such work is increased by narrowing the excavations area.