Abstract: The wading landslides in the Three Gorges Reservoir area are widely distributed, and their movement mode and impulse wave characteristics are closely related to the wading situation. Existing methods for predicting landslide impulse waves rarely consider the influence of landslide wading. Therefore, a physical generalized model test of landslides was conducted to study the impulse wave characteristics of wading landslides and the calculation formula for the maximum wave height of the initial wave of a landslide impulse wave under varying submergence degrees (defined as the ratio of the volume of the submerged part of the sliding body to the total volume before sliding). It was observed that as submergence increases, the type of landslide impulse wave transitions from a water landslide impulse wave to an underwater landslide impulse wave, leading to a gradual decrease in impulse wave height. By analyzing experimental data, a calculation formula for the maximum wave height of the initial impulse wave of wading landslides was derived through nonlinear regression analysis. A comparison with the formula proposed by Node and Pan Jiazheng showed that the empirical formula obtained is more suitable for calculating the maximum wave height of the initial impulse wave of wading landslides, with higher prediction accuracy. This formula can serve as a valuable reference for predicting and analyzing impulse wave disasters caused by wading landslides.

Key words: wading landslide, submergence, maximum wave height of first wave, forecast