REAL(4) (same as REAL(KIND=4)) data occupies 4 contiguous bytes stored in IEEE S_floating format. Bits are labeled from the right, 0 through 31, as shown below.
The form of REAL(4) data is sign magnitude, with bit 31 the sign bit (0 for positive numbers, 1 for negative numbers), bits 30:23 a binary exponent in biased 127 notation, and bits 22:0 a normalized 24-bit fraction including the redundant most-significant fraction bit not represented.
The value of data is in the approximate range: 1.17549435E-38 (normalized) to 3.40282347E38. The IEEE denormalized (subnormal) limit is 1.40129846E-45. The precision is approximately one part in 2**23; typically 7 decimal digits.