Great recent improvements in the quality and quantity of atmospheric dispersion datasets have highlighted the crucial importance of concentration fluctuations. However, this has inevitably been accompanied by the realisation that
estimating the properties of concentration fluctuations accurately involves new, difficult, but interesting, research problems. Some of these problems are discussed and illustrated. The paper concludes with some recommendations about how research funding agencies (such as governments, regulatory authorities and industry) should change their present strategy in response to new knowledge
