A barrier discharge is a high voltage nonstationary discharge that appears in an interelectrode gap where there is at least one solid (or liquid) dielectric barrier in the path of the discharge. Dielectric barriers are used to raise the breakdown voltage in different high voltage devices. Thus, the barrier effect demands versatile research: for direct, alternating, and impulse voltages. This article is devoted to the study of the action of a barrier placed parallel to the plane electrode on the corona discharge forms and the gap breakdown voltage in a needle–plane electrode system, to the investigation of the dependence of the discharge processes for different distances from the needle to the barrier, and to the research of the barrier insulation effect on the development of the processes in the discharge glow region. The latter includes a detailed study of the charge distribution on the dielectric surface.