We discuss the geometric foundation behind the use of stochastic processes in the frame bundle of a smooth manifold to build stochastic models with applications in statistical analysis of non-linear data. The transition densities for the projection to the manifold of Brownian motions developed in the frame bundle lead to a family of probability distributions on the manifold. We explain how data mean and covariance can be interpreted as points in the frame bundle or, more precisely, in the bundle of symmetric positive definite 2-tensors analogously to the parameters describing Euclidean normal distributions. We discuss a factorization of the frame bundle projection map through this bundle, the natural sub-Riemannian structure of the frame bundle, the effect of holonomy, and the existence of subbundles where the Hörmander condition is satisfied such that the Brownian motions have smooth transition densities. We identify the most probable paths for the underlying Euclidean Brownian motion and discuss small time asymptotics of the transition densities on the manifold. The geometric setup yields an intrinsic approach to the estimation of mean and covariance in non-linear spaces.

Keywords: differentiable geometry, statistics, sub-Riemannian geometry, stochastic processes, stochastic development, non-linear data analysis