Abstract: Gliding arc discharge can produce low temperature plasma at atmospheric pressure, which exhibits broad application prospects in the fields of energy, environment and medicine. In this work, experimental research on the images of atmospheric pressure AC gas-liquid gliding arc and the influences of several factors on the discharge characteristics were investigated. The energy injection characteristics during discharge were analyzed by Fast Fourier Transform(FFT) of electrical signals. The results showed that the gas-liquid gliding arc discharge was more stable than gas-phase gliding arc discharge, but the discharge intensity decreased. The plasma distributed evenly with bright spots appearance. The discharge-current-signal characteristics showed that the gas-liquid gliding arc discharge process included the breakdown gliding mode and the steady arc gliding mode, which had a longer sliding cycle than the gas-phase gliding arc discharge. Spectral analysis of discharge voltage and current signals found that the harmonic contents of gas-liquid gliding arc discharge voltage and discharge current were significantly reduced compared with gas-phase gliding arc discharge, further proving the improvement of discharge stability.Under the same conditions, the effects of gas flow and peak voltage on the average discharge power were basically the same as those of gas-phase gliding arc discharge. With the increase in liquid flow and water solution conductivity, the adsorption effect of atomized droplets on high-energy electrons in the discharge process enhanced, resulting in a decrease in the average discharge power.