UAV-based aviation inspection systems and related methods

A method, comprising:

• inspecting a structure in a global positioning system (GPS) denied environment via an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system, the UAV system comprising (i) at least one camera, (ii) a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor, (iii) a computing system coupled to the camera and the LiDAR sensor, and (iv) a controller configured to navigate the UAV, the method comprising:
• navigating the UAV system, via the controller, in a space exterior to the structure to collect a first LiDAR sensor data;
• generating, by the computing system, a point cloud map of the structure based on the first LiDAR sensor data;
• generating, by the computing system, a flight path for the UAV system based on the point cloud map, the flight path having a plurality of waypoints at which the UAV system is configured to obtain image data and a second LiDAR sensor data;
• navigating the UAV system according to the generated flight path and obtaining the image data and the second LiDAR sensor data for at least a subset of the plurality of waypoints;
• transmitting, by the computing system to a remote computing system, the image data and the second LiDAR sensor data;
• and
• processing, by the remote computing system, the transmitted data and the second LiDAR sensor data to detect damage to a surface of the structure for the subset of the waypoints.