Objective To investigate the development characteristics and main controlling factors of shallow landslides under extreme rainfall conditions in the Three Gorges Reservoir area. Methods The Shuangliang small watershed in Zhongxian County, Chongqing was selected as the study area. Based on shallow landslides triggered by an extreme rainfall event (total precipitation: 166.4 mm; maximum 1-hour intensity: 47.9 mm) from July 10 to 11, 2024, field investigations and UAV aerial photography were conducted. Combined with ArcGIS software, frequency ratio model, and geodetector, the development characteristics and main controlling factors of the shallow landslides were systematically analyzed. Results 1) The thickness, width, length, area, and volume of the 49 shallow landslides induced by this rainfall event ranged from 0.48-9.24 m, 4.54-74.60 m, 7.14-220.19 m, 65.20-6 207.12 m2, and 282.08-90 266.54 m3, respectively. Furthermore, these landslides were mainly concentrated within the ranges of 0-6 m in thickness, 10-50 m in width, 0-39 m in length, 0-500 m2 in area, and 0-1×104 m3 in volume. 2) Spatially, the shallow landslides were predominantly distributed in areas with antecedent rainfall of 31.3-33.5 mm, NDVI of 0.37-0.49, elevation of 648-759 m, sunny/semi-sunny slope aspects, slope gradient of 15°-25°, planar and profile curvatures of -2.0--0.5, topographic wetness index of 2.0-8.0, distance to rivers of 800-1 600 m, distance to roads of 0-20 m, and land use type of forest land. 3) Slope gradient (q = 0.251) and land use type (q = 0.228) were the main driving factors for shallow landslide occurrence in the reservoir area, while the interaction between slope gradient and aspect (q = 0.44) and between slope gradient and land use (q = 0.42) significantly increased shallow landslide probability. Conclusion The findings of this study can provide a scientific basis for the early warning and prevention of shallow landslides in the Three Gorges Reservoir area.
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