It is shown that ac discharges propagating at an air / dielectric interface, though of planar structure, behave, till a critical voltage Vcrit, as corona discharges in an air gap, with similar propagation fields for the filamentary discharge components and similar glow components. This leads to consider the surface discharges as gas discharges propagating above the dielectric surface. Beyond Vcrit, the retention of charges by the dielectric surface becomes ineffective, due to the gas heating in the filamentary channels and to the heat subsequently transferred from these channels to the surface. In return, the surface gives its energy excess back to the discharge, so opening the way, on the surface, to leader-like discharges of higher conductivity, needing about 10 times lower fields to propagate.