An intrinsic measure for submanifolds in stratified groups

For each submanifold of a stratified group, we find a number and a measure only depending on its tangent bundle, the grading and the fixed Riemannian metric. In two step stratified groups, we show that such number and measure coincide with the Hausdorff dimension and with the spherical Hausdorff measure of the submanifold with respect to the Carnot-Caratheodory distance, respectively. Our main technical tool is an intrinsic blow-up at points of maximum degree. We also show that the intrinsic tangent cone to the submanifold at these points is always a subgroup. Finally, by direct computations in the Engel group, we show how our results can be extended to higher step stratified groups, provided the submanifold is sufficiently regular.