smart art style diagram wih tikz

Question

I have a question concerning drawing something similar to a smart art feature. If I have a diagram like so:

The first thing I can do is draw the individual panels:

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage[margin = 1in]{geometry}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.pathmorphing,calc,shapes,arrows,snakes,shapes.geometric,patterns}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{graphicx}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[y = 13mm, x = 10mm,decoration = snake] % used for aspect ratio of diagram
\tikzstyle{every node}=[font=\scriptsize] % ensure all text is relatively small
\coordinate (clipping area) at (10, 5.9);% The figure is drawn a bit bigger, and then clipped:
\clip (0,0) rectangle (clipping area);

% Next reference points are relative to the lower left corner of the clipping area
\coordinate (water level) at (0, 6);
\coordinate (bottom)      at (5, 1);       % (bottom of the pit)
\coordinate (ground1)     at (0, 6);       % (left shore)
\coordinate (ground2)     at (10, 6);      % (right shore)
\coordinate (sedFlux)     at (5, 2.2);     % location where we need the sediment flux arrow

% Coordinates of the bigger area really drawn
\coordinate (lower left)  at ([xshift=-5mm, yshift=-5mm] 0,0);
\coordinate (upper right) at ([xshift=5mm,  yshift=5mm] clipping area);

% Draw the water and ripples
\draw [draw=blue!80!black, decoration={bumps, mirror, segment length=6mm}, decorate,
     bottom color=cyan!60!black, top color=blue!20!white] 
  (lower left) rectangle (water level-|upper right);

% Draw the ground
\draw [draw=white, fill=white] 
(lower left) -- (lower left|-ground1)  --
(ground1) .. controls ($(ground1)!.3!(bottom)$) and (bottom-|ground1) ..
(bottom) .. controls (bottom-|ground2) and ($(ground2)!.3!(bottom)$) .. 
(ground2) -- (ground2-|upper right) -- (lower left-|upper right) -- cycle;
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Is it then possible to use this diagram and others to draw something like a smart diagram where instead of having text you could gave separate diagrams? I would eventually like to end up with something like:

But obviously each of the panels will not be identical. Assuming that the panels are identical can anyone suggest a way of doing this?

Answer 1

I don't know how to use commands \sbox and \usebox suggested by Qrrbrbirlbel, but as you want to draw not identical diagrams you can easily draw them in different positions with scopes help.

Next code uses JLDiaz answer converted into a command and afterthat draws it whithin several scopes. On each scope you can add some particular modifications.

It's not the best solution but I hope it helps you to find a better one.

\documentclass[tikz]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.pathmorphing,calc}

\newcommand{\mydiagram}{%
% % Define some reference points 
% The figure is drawn a bit bigger, and then clipped to the following dimensions:
\coordinate (clipping area) at (10, 7);
\clip (0,0) rectangle (clipping area);
% Next reference points are relative to the lower left corner of the clipping area
\coordinate (water level) at (0, 6);
\coordinate (bottom)      at (5, 1.3);     % (bottom of the pit)
\coordinate (ground1)     at (0, 5);       % (left shore)
\coordinate (ground2)     at (10, 5);      % (right shore)
% Coordinates of the bigger area really drawn
\coordinate (lower left)  at ([xshift=-5mm, yshift=-5mm] 0,0);
\coordinate (upper right) at ([xshift=5mm,  yshift=5mm] clipping area);
% Draw the water and ripples
\draw [draw=blue!80!black, decoration={bumps, mirror, segment length=6mm}, decorate,
     bottom color=cyan!60!black, top color=blue!20!white] 
  (lower left) rectangle (water level-|upper right);
% Draw the ground
\draw [draw=brown!30!black, fill=brown] 
  (lower left) -- (lower left|-ground1)  --
  (ground1) .. controls ($(ground1)!.3!(bottom)$) and (bottom-|ground1) ..
  (bottom) .. controls (bottom-|ground2) and ($(ground2)!.3!(bottom)$) .. 
  (ground2) -- (ground2-|upper right) -- (lower left-|upper right) -- cycle;
}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{scope}[shift={(-5,4)}]
\mydiagram
\node at (3,5,3,5) {A};
\end{scope}

\begin{scope}[shift={(6,-3.5)}]
\mydiagram
\node at (3,5,3,5) {B};
\end{scope}

\begin{scope}[shift={(-5,-11)}]
\mydiagram
\node at (3,5,3,5) {C};
\end{scope}

\begin{scope}[shift={(-16,-3.5)}]
\mydiagram
\node at (3,5,3,5) {D};
\end{scope}
\draw[->,red, very thick] (6,7) to[out=-10,in=100]  (11,3);
\draw[->,red, very thick] (11,-4) to[out=-100,in=10]  (6,-8);
\draw[->,red, very thick] (-6,-8) to[out=170,in=-80]  (-11,-4);
\draw[->,red, very thick] (-11,3) to[out=80,in=190]  (-6,7);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}