Testing the use of single- and multi-mission satellite altimetry for the calibration of hydraulic models

•Comparison of available altimetry products for hydrodynamic model calibration.•Investigation of the potential of multi-mission series for calibrating hydraulic model.•Impact of single- and multi-mission series length (n° of observations) on calibration reliability.•Results show the improvement of satellite performances over time.•Multi-mission series outperform short series of original low-frequency altimetric products.