Non contact magnetic actuation inside liquids or in ambient environments has gained a large interest over the last few years. A large range of micrometer size particles are controlled using this principle. However little consideration has been made to air/liquid interface, despite the interesting properties of this environment (good repeatability due to the small adhesion forces, and low viscous effects that enable to reach large velocities). This work aims at providing models to perform both the conception and the control of these new devices. Both an accurate analytical model for the conception, and a simplified one that can be easily invertible in real time for the control are proposed. Different assumptions based on the small scale of the particle are discussed to obtain the simplified model. The validity of the approach is analysed using a 1D trajectory control experiment based on the simplified model of the system. This work provides the basic understanding for the future developments of magnetic actuation systems at the air/liquid interface for micrometer scale applications.