Abstract: This paper proposes a novel approach to estimate Normalized
Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from just the red channel of
a RGB image. The NDVI index is defined as the ratio of the difference
of the red and infrared radiances over their sum. In other words, information
from the red channel of a RGB image and the corresponding
infrared spectral band are required for its computation. In the current
work the NDVI index is estimated just from the red channel by training a
Conditional Generative Adversarial Network (CGAN). The architecture
proposed for the generative network consists of a single level structure,
which combines at the final layer results from convolutional operations
together with the given red channel with Gaussian noise to enhance
details, resulting in a sharp NDVI image. Then, the discriminative model
estimates the probability that the NDVI generated index came from the
training dataset, rather than the index automatically generated. Experimental
results with a large set of real images are provided showing that
a Conditional GAN single level model represents an acceptable approach
to estimate NDVI index.