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A compact and simple instrument for the sensitive detection of NO₂ in the atmosphere has been developed. NO₂ is sampled in a stripping coil by a selective chemical reaction, converted into a highly absorbing dye, which is detected by long path absorption in a liquid core waveguide. Several interferences were quantified in the laboratory which so far can all be neglected. The significant interferences against HONO and O₃ were suppressed by using an upstream HONO/O₃-scrubber. The instrument has a detection limit of 2 pptv, an accuracy of 10 % and a precision of 0.5 % for 3 min time resolution. Thus, the new NO₂-LOPAP technique is more sensitive than known commercial NO₂ instruments. The new analyzer is much simpler to apply than other highly sensitive and selective NO₂ methods, e.g. LIF or REMPI methods. The new instrument allows an absolute calibration that can be easily performed with liquid nitrite standards, which is a significant advantage compared with other NO₂ measurement techniques for which NO₂ calibration gas mixtures are typically necessary. The new instrument has been validated against the chemiluminescence technique during an urban field campaign and against the FTIR technique in a smog chamber under complex photosmog conditions. The data sets exhibit high correlation and excellent agreement.