Parametric estimation of a Boolean segment process with stochastic restoration estimation

We propose a stochastic restoration estimation (SRE) algorithm to estimate the parameters of the length distribution of a boolean segment process. A b oolean segment process is a stochastic process obtained by considering the union of independent random segments attached to random points independentl y scattered on the plane. Each iteration of the SRE algorithm has two steps : first, censored segments are restored; second, based on these restored da ta, parameter estimations are updated. With a usually straightforward imple mentation, this algorithm is particularly interesting when censoring effect s are difficult to take into account. We illustrate this method in two situ ations where the parameter of interest is either the mean of the segment le ngth distribution or the variance of its logarithm. Its application to vine shoot length distribution estimation is presented.