Dispersion of odors, gases, and particulates from swine production and manure storage facilities creates a problem with neighbors. It is assumed that all materials emitted by production units rapidly move downwind of the facility; however, there is little direct information about the dispersion rates around swine facilities. This research project was designed to answer questions about the air flow around production units and manure storage facilities and then apply this information to an improved understanding of dispersion from swine production units. Understanding these issues is critical to be able to offer management solutions to changing the movement patterns of air around buildings and across manure storage units. To address this problem we measured the turbulence around and within an earthen storage unit in central Iowa and downwind of a production unit in southern Utah. These measurements were made with 3-dimensional anemometers designed to measure the components of wind movement. These were coupled with measurements of air temperature and relative humidity profiles throughout the lower atmosphere. These data were placed into an atmospheric transport model that revealed that plumes of air moving downwind from production units vary within and across days due to wind speed and direction while the shape of the plume is dependent upon the air temperature profile and the underlying topography. Each production facility is unique in its dispersion characteristics; however, through the use of transport models based on local topography, air temperature profiles, stability of the atmosphere, and wind speed and direction, it is possible to define the shape of plume and movement patterns. These models can then be coupled with atmospheric loading rates of volatile organic compounds, gases, or particulates to estimate the downwind movement of a specific compound.