Abstract. The transfer of a passive tracer in inhomogeneous turbulent flow is investigated. Starting from Lumley's constitutive equation, we derived an expression for the ratio between the effective eddy diffusivity K and eddy diffusivity K as a function of three length scales characterizing the local turbulence structure, flux variations and turbulence inhomogeneities. The theoretical predictions for the one-dimensional case of inhomogeneous symmetric turbulence were validated through a comparison with the numerical results of a Lagrangian particle model simulating a wind tunnel experiment of dispersion in the lee of an idealized two-dimensional hill. A qualitative agreement is reached between the theoretical evaluation of K and the value obtained from the numerical simulation.