Abstract: The present invention is a contour meter that measures the contour of a polishing surface of a polishing pad used in chemical-mechanical polishing of semiconductor wafers. The contour meter has a support member positionable over the polishing surface of a pad, a displacement sensor attached to the support member, and a converter operatively coupled to the displacement sensor. The sensor has a guide member and a pin slidably attached to the guide member. The sensor is attached to the support member to position the pin in a reference plane with respect to the polishing surface, and the pin is controllably engageable with the polishing surface to follow the contour of the polishing surface as at least one of the sensor or the pad moves with respect to the other. The sensor senses changes in the vertical displacement between the support member and the pin as the pin follows the contour of the polishing surface, and it produces signals corresponding to the sensed displacement changes.