What technology is used for real-time tracking of balloons carrying amateur radio transmitters?

Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) is a packet radio protocol designed for real-time digital communications, primarily to share tactical information such as GPS coordinates, weather data, and telemetry. Because it routinely transmits periodic location bursts, it is the standard and most widely used technology for tracking high-altitude balloons (HABs) carrying amateur radio payloads. Digipeaters and internet gateways on the ground pick up these packets and plot the balloon's real-time position on public maps like aprs.fi. FT8 and PACTOR III are purely for conversational or weak-signal digital contacts, not for networked telemetry tracking. LORAN is an obsolete terrestrial navigation system, not an amateur radio tracking technology.