Over the past decades, researchers had different observations based on field operations and also aerial photographs and satellite images to investigate changing in land use/cover which resulted from natural processes and human activities. This study used Landsat TM and OLI images to monitor land use/cover changes in the Khafr and Sivar catchment in southern Isfahan, Iran, from 1986 to 2013. The images were geometrically corrected and classified using maximum likelihood classifier and then their changes were determined with the post-classification technique. The land use/cover maps produced from the image classifier included rangeland, agricultural land, residential area, bareland, snow cover and rock outcrops. After the land use/cover classification, the economic impacts of agricultural and rangeland conversions were examined on the 1986-1998, 1998- 2013 and 1986-2013 periods through questionnaire-based field survey. Results showed that agricultural and rangeland land uses have changed the most in the study area. The conversion of rangeland into agricultural land was 147.74, 306.17 and 328.29 hectares in the periods of study, respectively. Results of economic evaluation showed the net income of agriculture and rangeland land uses to be 323324 and 51000 Rials, respectively. Conversion of agriculture to rangeland areas decreased the income of stakeholders by 24230, 27826 and 24870 thousand Rials and conversion of rangeland to agriculture increased the income by 450162, 93263 and 100029 during the mentioned periods, respectively. In overall conclusion, results show an increase in the net income of stakeholders through land use conversion activities, which is one of the main motivators of land use change in this region. Keywords: Land use/cover changes, TM, OLI sensor, field survey, economic impacts, questionnaire
