Approximation of Sahelian rainfall fields with meta-Gaussian random functions - Part 2: parameter estimation and comparison to data

The meta-Gaussian model is fitted to a set of 258 sahelian rainfields. The hypotheses underlying this model are discussed with a special emphasis on its ergodic properties, the scale of the phenomenon and the scale of observation. Then the ability of this model to reproduce some observed features, in particular upscaling properties, is checked from a distributional point of view. Finally, some simple properties of the thresholds which are linked to the area threshold method are described.