Abstract. (Local) self-similarity is a seminal concept, especially for Euclidean random fields. We study in this paper the extension of these notions to manifold indexed fields. We give conditions on the (local) self-similarity index that ensure the existence of fractional fields. Moreover, we explain how to identify the self-similar index. We describe a way of simulating Gaussian fractional fields.Mathematics Subject Classification. 60G07, 60G15, 60G18.