In seasonal flooding isolated wetlands, the degree of wetness suggests a close synergy between soil processes, landscape evolution and hydrology along space and time. Until now, that subject has received insufficient attention despite natural wetlands supply essential environmental services to society and are surrounded by intensive agriculture that uses agrochemicals and fertilizers in their management. The objectives of this study were to propose an infiltration architecture model based on local surface and subsurface water-fluxes in isolated wetland embedded in lateritic plateau covered by savanna and qualify the environmental sensitivity as an area of aquifer recharge. Grain size, soil bulk density, and hydraulic conductivity were determined in five profiles in a soil catena. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle high-resolution images were obtained to generate a digital elevation model and discriminate areas with different vegetation, water accumulation, and environmental sensitivity. Electrical tomography was performed to unveil the soil architecture and infiltration. The soils (Plinthosols) developed on aquic conditions determine the linkage between the surface–subsurface hydrodynamics with the soil's physical properties. We have identified vertical and lateral water-flows in the soil architecture. Vertical flow occurs exclusively at the center, where the wetland is characterized as a recharge zone. Lateral flow towards the borders characterizes a discharge zone. The recharge zone is a depression surrounded by crops; therefore, it is a point of high environmental sensitivity. This hydrodynamic model is essential to support studies related to the dispersion of contaminants since soybean agriculture dominates the whole area of well-drained soils in the Brazilian Cerrado.

In two small and isolated wetlands located at the interface of the Atlantic Forest and Brazilian savanna (Cerrado) in São Paulo State, Brazil, we employed a pixel-based supervised classification approach using a combination of panchromatic and multispectral bands obtained from Landsat 2, 5, 7, and CBERS-04A satellites (ranging from 80 to 2 m/pixel). In addition, we acquired DJI Phantom 4 Pro UAV-RGB images in twelve different periods with a resolution of +5 cm/pixel. Furthermore, we utilized 2D and 3D Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) to obtain data on the surroundings and center of the wetlands. Finally, we conducted a climatological data analysis. The results from the multisource data allowed us to classify the ecosystems as geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs), for which we documented a seasonal month-to-month (12 months) spatial variation of inundated area, vegetation pattern, soil water interaction, and a point of surface and deep-subsurface water interaction. These results are essential for high-accuracy characterization of small wetlands’ hydrodynamics and hydroperiods at the local scale. Our study contributes to optimizing GIWs understanding, monitoring, and reapplication of the methodology in other wetlands or small ecosystems.

Human pressure on the water resources provided by natural isolated wetlands has intensified in Brazil due to an increase in agricultural land equipped with irrigation. However, the amount of water stored in these areas and its contribution to aquifer recharge is unknown. This study aimed to quantify the amount of water that can be retained in a natural wetland and to propose a model of groundwater recharge. We used remote sensing techniques involving unmanned aerial vehicle to map the wetland and highlight its internal morphology, using a red-green-blue orthomosaic and a digital surface model. The 2-D inversion and a pseudo-3-D model from electrical resistivity tomography data were used to visualize the subsurface structures and hydrologic flow paths. The wetland is a reservoir storing up to 416.996 m(3) of water during the rainy months. Distinct internal compartments characterize the wetland topography and different water-volume storage, lower in the border and higher in the center. A leakage point connects surface water to groundwater through direct vertical flow, which constitutes the aquifer recharge zone. Remotely sensed very high-resolution images allied with geophysical techniques allowed complete surface and subsurface imaging and offered visual tools that contributed to understanding the hydrodynamics of the wetland.

The concentration and mobility of metals in the lithosphere and hydrosphere are led by many physical-chemical parameters and processes from natural and anthropogenic origins, the last one resulting in impacts over many ecosystems around the World, including wetlands. These transitional zones, often characterized by the presence of hydric soils, adapted vegetation, and seasonal or permanent presence of surface water, are commonly under human pressure in terms of land use conversion and contamination, notably in agricultural production areas, where excess of nutrients/organic matter, pesticides, salts, sediments, heavy metals and radionuclides (originated from inorganic fertilizers) can substantially alter the ecological balance of those ecosystems. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the agricultural impact over a tropical geographically isolated wetland in the Brazilian Cerrado by the analysis of geochemical mobility and interaction between surface and groundwater through in situ gamma-ray spectrometry and hydraulic conductivity measurements. The results demonstrated that the margins of this diabase-derived soil wetland are one of the most important and critical compartments due to its capacity of metal immobilization and surface water infiltration, indicated especially by uranium concentrations. Thorium, in turn, was most related to colluvial transport from slopes to the center of wetland. It was also corroborated by low hydraulic conductivity zones as a result of soil compaction due to heavy agricultural machinery and increase in runoff fluxes. Thus, this methodology could be used as an initial fast screening method in wetlands under other climatic and geological/pedological contexts to evaluate the local hydrogeochemical dynamics and impacts of agricultura.

Rock outcrops are crucial for geological studies, providing insights through direct observation and sampling. However, some outcrops are temporary, especially in tropical regions and dynamic environments like mining sites. Digital Outcrop Models (DOMs) address this challenge by offering 3D representations for remote analysis, typically generated via LiDAR and photogrammetry. However, these methods often require costly equipment and extensive processing. Recent advances in mobile technology, particularly the integration of LiDAR sensors in smartphones, present a cost-effective alternative for geoscientific data collection. Despite its potential, concerns remain about the accuracy of smartphone-derived LiDAR compared to traditional methods, particularly regarding scanning configurations and range settings. This study compared different acquisition parameters across scales and assessed iPhone-based LiDAR accuracy in a mining environment. Additionally, an optimized workflow for DOM acquisition was proposed. Among the free applications tested, Scaniverse yielded the best results in terms of measurement precision and user experience. The study found that accuracy depends significantly on acquisition range. The 0.3-meter range provided the highest accuracy but required longer acquisition times. The 2.5-meter range offered the best balance between accuracy and efficiency, making it ideal for fieldwork. The 5-meter range, however, did not provide substantial advantages. For detailed analyses, traditional post-processing software like CloudCompare is recommended. These findings highlight the potential of smartphone LiDAR for geoscience, emphasizing the need to optimize acquisition parameters and use efficient post-processing tools to enhance precision and field efficiency.