I'm new to the modelling of inviscid euler equations. I have come across few different upwind schemes that are used instead of central differencing schemes to model such flows, such as flux vector splitting and Godunov. My question is, do I definitely need to know the eigenvectors/eigenvalues of the system if I need to use an upwind scheme for such flow? Is there a way just to apply the normal first order upwind to solve such equations? If so, how is the direction of the flow decided on? Thank you!  
upwind schemes for solving inviscid euler equations
fluid dynamics;discretization;hyperbolic pde;numerical modelling
Do I definitely need to know the eigenvectors/eigenvalues of the system if I need to use an upwind scheme for such flow?No, it is certainly not necessary to use the full eigenstructure of the system, especially for lower order (order 1-2) schemes.  Some of the most commonly used Riemann solvers are Lax-Friedrichs, HLL, HLLE, and HLLC (see Wikipedia).  Lax-Friedrichs and HLL only require a rough upper bound on the eigenvalues, and the other two only use a little more information; none of them use the eigenvectors.  These solvers are also used implicitly in the so-called central schemes.Of course, the eigenstructure is written down for you in many references, so knowing it is easy.Is there a way just to apply the normal first order upwind to solve such equations?The eigenvalues (wavespeeds) of the 1D Euler equations are$$u-c, u, u+c$$where $u$ is the local fluid velocity and $c$ is the sound speed.  For subsonic flow, these three speeds will not all have the same sign, so the upwind direction is different for different characteristic fields.  Thus application of an upwind method requires knowing the eigenvalues.If you're asking this question, then you would definitely benefit from reading Toro's book or LeVeque's book.  It's difficult to respond to your comments below in a meaningful way unless you are more familiar with the basic discretizations that are used for these equations.  You are trying to extrapolate your knowledge from discretizations of the advection equation, and there is a significant gap.