This dataset comprises of the IDL code referenced in the 'Open Research' section of the Kaye and Pittman (2020) study 'Fluorescence‐based detection of field targets using an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle system' published in Methods in Ecology and Evolution (https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13402). This study describes a proof‐of‐concept autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system that utilizes the fluorescence characteristics unique to different materials to scan and acquire targets in the field e.g. fossils, rocks and minerals, organisms and archaeological artefacts. This is possible because these targets are often highly fluorescent against lower fluorescence backgrounds and may exhibit different colours. Fluorescence is stimulated by a near‐UV laser that is projected across the ground as a horizontal line directly below the UAV. The IDL code is for laser line and colour extractions in the laser scan strip. The raw .jpeg data for the IDL code is not provided here as this depends on what target is being scanned. All image data are made available in the paper. Additional contextual information is provided in the '2 MATERIALS AND METHODS' section of the paper, especially in Figure 3.

Computer code running under IDL. readalljpgs.pro extracts laser lines from jpeg images. extractcolor.pro extracts a predefined color in a laser scan strip. The raw .jpeg data for the IDL code is not provided here as this depends on what target is being scanned. All image data are made available in the paper (Kaye and Pittman, 2020: Fluorescence‐based detection of field targets using an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle system in Methods in Ecology and Evolution [https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13402]). Additional contextual information is provided in the '2 MATERIALS AND METHODS' section of the paper, especially in Figure 3.