An apparatus, method and computer program product are provided for predicting feature space decay using variational auto-encoder networks. Methods may include: receiving a first image of a road segment including a feature disposed along the road segment; applying a loss function to the feature of the first image; generating a revised image, where the revised image includes a weathered iteration of the feature; generating a predicted image using interpolation between the image and the revised image of a partially weathered iteration of the feature; receiving a user image, where the user image is received from a vehicle traveling along the road segment; correlating a feature in the user image to the partially weathered iteration of the feature in the predicted image; and establishing that the feature in the user image is the feature disposed along the road segment.