A method comprising: flying an unmanned aerial vehicle along a flight path from a control station at a first location to an area of interest at a second location and back to the control station, wherein the second location may be outside a communication range of the control station; receiving, by a computer system located onboard the unmanned aerial vehicle, sensor data generated by sensors located onboard the unmanned aerial vehicle; processing, by the computer system, the sensor data using at least one of image edge detection, object recognition, object motion detection, and object shape detection to autonomously generate information of interest related to at least one target, while the unmanned aerial vehicle is outside the communications range of the control station, wherein said autonomously generated information of interest includes: - information about the at least one target; - information related to a search pattern to be used to detect the at least one target; - information related to a flight path to be used to detect and track the at least one target; - information about how data generated about the at least one target will be communicated to the control station; and identifying, by the computer system autonomously, a number of actions to be performed based on the information of interest related to the at least one target, while the unmanned aerial vehicle is outside the communications range of the control station, wherein the number of actions include: - flying the unmanned aerial vehicle closer to the at least one target and storing information about the at least one target for future transmission to the control station; - re-planning at least a portion of the flight path to generate a new search area or a new search pattern when at least one target is unable to be detectable for at least a selected period of time; and - communicating the information about the at least one target to the control station when the unmanned aerial vehicle is within the communications range of the control station. flying an unmanned aerial vehicle along a flight path from a control station at a first location to an area of interest at a second location and back to the control station, wherein the second location may be outside a communication range of the control station; receiving, by a computer system located onboard the unmanned aerial vehicle, sensor data generated by sensors located onboard the unmanned aerial vehicle; processing, by the computer system, the sensor data using at least one of image edge detection, object recognition, object motion detection, and object shape detection to autonomously generate information of interest related to at least one target, while the unmanned aerial vehicle is outside the communications range of the control station, wherein said autonomously generated information of interest includes: - information about the at least one target; - information related to a search pattern to be used to detect the at least one target; - information related to a flight path to be used to detect and track the at least one target; - information about how data generated about the at least one target will be communicated to the control station; and - information about the at least one target; - information related to a search pattern to be used to detect the at least one target; - information related to a flight path to be used to detect and track the at least one target; - information about how data generated about the at least one target will be communicated to the control station; and identifying, by the computer system autonomously, a number of actions to be performed based on the information of interest related to the at least one target, while the unmanned aerial vehicle is outside the communications range of the control station, wherein the number of actions include: - flying the unmanned aerial vehicle closer to the at least one target and storing information about the at least one target for future transmission to the control station; - re-planning at least a portion of the flight path to generate a new search area or a new search pattern when at least one target is unable to be detectable for at least a selected period of time; and - communicating the information about the at least one target to the control station when the unmanned aerial vehicle is within the communications range of the control station. - flying the unmanned aerial vehicle closer to the at least one target and storing information about the at least one target for future transmission to the control station; - re-planning at least a portion of the flight path to generate a new search area or a new search pattern when at least one target is unable to be detectable for at least a selected period of time; and - communicating the information about the at least one target to the control station when the unmanned aerial vehicle is within the communications range of the control station.