The "International Workshop on Satellite Altimetry for Geodesy, Geophysics and Oceanography: Summer Lecture Series and Scientific Applications" was held in Wuhan, China from September 8 to 13, 2002 (http://space. cv. nctu. edu. tw/altimetryworkshop/altimetry. htm). This is a joint workshop ofInternational Association ofGeodesy (lAG) Special Study Group (SSG) 3. 186 (chaired by C. Hwang ofNational Chiao Tung University) and lAG Section II (President: C. K. Shum of the Ohio State University), and was hosted by Wuhan University with J. C. Li as the chair ofthe local organizing committee. The scientific program was organized by the Scientific Committee chaired by C. Hwang. The objectives of the Workshop include offering lectures on various subjects of satellite altimetry for beginners and for advanced researchers, and to provide a forum for presentations and discussions ofcontemporary results in altimetric research. A total of 60 abstracts were received and 65 people participated in this workshop. These participants are from Austria (2), Australia (1), Canada (1), China (26), Czech Republic (1), Denmark (2), France (1), Germany (2), Italy (2), Japan (1), Korean (2), Netherlands (2), Taiwan (13), UK (1), and USA (7). On September 9 and 10, 2002, the following five three-hours lectures were delivered: Lecture 1: Principles ofsatellite altimetry and application to sea level change studies, by C. K.