Surface dielectric barrier discharges with conductive water- solution electrodes were generated at atmospheric pressure air, nitrogen, oxygen, and argon. The discharges were studied by conventional and high-speed camera photography. Plasma rotational and vibrational temperatures and the electron number density were estimated using optical emission spectroscopy. Surprisingly, especially for oxygen, the discharge was found to generate visually diffuse strongly non-isothermal plasma. This observation indicates the interesting application potential of the discharge for surface plasma treatments of, i.e. the inner and outer surfaces of hollow dielectric bodies.