A procedure for the detection and display of the ground and of obstacles through the use of detection means installed onboard a vehicle, which detection means send measurement signals toward the ground and receive a plurality of elementary plots (Pe). The procedure makes it possible to create a grid of the ground along a horizontal plane, with each ground cell (Ms(i,j)) consisting of an elementary plot (Pe) having a minimum altitude Zmin(i,j)), and with each other elementary plot (Pe) corresponding to the ground cell (Ms(i,j)) and having a different altitude (Zn(i,j)), thereby forming an obstacle plot (Pon(i,j)). Each newly received elementary plot (Pe) is then compared against the corresponding ground cell (Ms(i,j)) and processed according to its altitude (Zn(i,j)). The ground cells (Ms(i,j)) and/or the obstacle plots (Pon(i,j)) are displayed on display means in order to indicate to the pilot of the vehicle the potential obstacles other than the ground.