It has taken about two years to create a workable model of future oil leakage using the software, he said. Data parameters included so far include the pressure of the harbor mud on the decaying hull, the effects of a thick crust of biological vegetation that has grown over the wreckage since it was sunk and other factors such as water currents.

"We're just starting now to do parameter studies," such as changing pressures and changing estimates about how quickly the hull's thick plates are corroding and getting thinner due to rust, he said.

By examining the data from the models and simulations, Foecke can develop scenarios that can be used to estimate how the wreckage is holding up and when more serious leaks will occur.

The Park Service asked NIST to help with the evaluations so the agency would have as much information as possible for making decisions about preserving and protecting the wreckage, which is the home of one of the nation's most revered military memorials.

The Arizona memorial commemorates the 1,177 sailors and Marines who died on the ship during the Japanese attack. The loss aboard the Arizona made up more than half of the 2,335 U.S. servicemen from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps who died that day in the attack.